Spring is nearly upon us so time for a change.......
Smiling Eddie
Suspicious cows
Droopy helebore
Rather good pancake
After five years I am hanging up my blogger's camera and keyboard to make room for the many hobbies and interests I seem to have started or revisited lately. Such fun!
Time waits for no man and certainly not for a middle aged woman with a full time job, a natural (!) garden, rustic (OK, run down) house and bad knees. I also know that I should ride the wave of these new interests whilst the enthusiasm is there as I have the attention span of a goldfish.
What did I do last month? Zzzzzzzzzz...... See what I mean?
Oh yes. We used our 'two together' railcard (how naff) to visit middle chick and go to an art exhibition by Rose Wylie, an eccentric 83 year old artist with wild grey hair. I love her. The weather was cold and grim and it rained all day. Shame, as I would love to have explored Kensington Gardens. NB: The squirrels in the park are rather sure of themselves. One climbed up the leg of a cross looking chap as he was trying to feed the birds. They sit there looking all cute (and very fat) but don't be fooled.
'The Arch' by Henry Moore in Kensington Gardens is 6 metres high and weighs 37 tonnes
The art exhibition was in the Serpentine Sackler Gallery, an 1805 gunpowder store.
'Park Dogs and Air Raid'
'Jack Goes Swimming'
'Queen with Pansies'
We made a quick visit to the Science Museum to get out of the rain and just squeezed through the door before they shut us in.
Vintage cars in the Science Museum
Science Museum
I did more painting, screwing, drilling and sanding at the factory.
My upper body has got so muscly (proud) that I can't do anything up anymore!
A little bird came in for a bit but realised that it was warmer outside
Sarah made Challah loaf - THE most delicious bread
I re-discovered sewing. Swatches of material make me go weak at the knees but I've never had the confidence to do anything with them.
My mum gave me some scrumptious material scraps
And look! My first attempt with new sewing machine!
I visited my partner in crime, Hayley.....She has joined me in my 'doing something everyday for lent' thing. I am playing the piano. She is playing her accordion.
Mad woman with accordion
The field behind us flooded, the water butts overflowed but we still had some good sunsets on our dog walks.
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Winter sun
Eddie ready for an evening in front of 'The Crown'
Could Spring be around the corner?
All hail the helebore
February is such a dreary month but luckily the Theatre Fest West was on at Salisbury Playhouse, we saw three plays in one week! The snowdrops couldn't fail to cheer us up and we tried a new beer festival for research purposes only. The Corn Exchange venue was lovely and the pies weren't bad either.
Matt and Sarah enjoying one of the many beers on offer at the Devizes Festival of Winter Ales
Steve was happy - he won a prize on the raffle - woo hoo!
Well, I'm off. Maybe some day I will pop up again somewhere new. Who knows.
But for now, I have piano tunes to learn, clothes to patch, scarves to knit, books to read and journals to fill of my adventures.
'Years ago I built a hut overlooking a pond - a small loch or 'lochan' in Highland parlance - where, like Thoreau at Walden, I go to write or just bare myself to the effervescent mysteries of nature and life. It's called the Illicit Still, named by my children because for years I kept a bottle of whisky locked away from their prying teenage eyes. It has a lumberjack's oil drum stove, some rough and ready bunks, an old sofa, a table and chairs - just about everything serious contemplation requires. It has become a treasured centre of separateness, a place to muse, an escape.'
- 'The Dun Cow Rib' by John Lister-Kaye
