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On the Doorstep: Whitchurch ~ Earth and Water

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Really interesting blog from Sue Vincent. This Whitchurch is in Hampshire. We have one nearby in Shropshire, apparently there are several in the UK. It might be they are based on the name White Church?

Sue Vincent's avatarSue Vincent's Daily Echo

It was a lovely day. We needed to get out and about… get some exercise in the fresh air and sunshine. And yet, there we were in lockdown again. My own village offers few unexplored possibilities, so, instead of moping around indoors, we decided to drive five miles and a couple of hamlets over to the village of Whitchurch for a wander.

It is often the way that the things on our doorstep are the easiest to ignore. We are always ‘going to’ investigate and seldom do.  I have known about the sites at Whitchurch for over twenty years, but aside from visiting the church as we researched the area for our books, I have not taken the time to explore the village. A quiet Sunday, with few people about, seemed the perfect opportunity.

I have already written about the wartime connections of the village… of the young artist…

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Outdoor cat asleep

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He came in, asked for a love, sniffed our boy cat. Thought about getting on my lap. Then he walked over to the settee, kicked a toy mouse for about thirty seconds (holding it with his forepaws, kicking with his back legs), then his eyes closed and he gel fast asleep!

Meanwhile my boy cat watched proceedings but remained inside a cardboard box we’ve given him to curl up in. The girl cat is lying over the radiator on her cat tree.. What happens next?

Sad hanging baskets

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They are wilting…

Every day they are declining, wilting, leaves and flowers crumpling. We still haven’t had a frost but we have had cold rain.

Once they are gone we won’t have flowers till April or May. A few plants might be able to overwinter. I’m still thinking of getting some winter flowering pansies and a few cyclamen.

The main decline is amongst the plants are the begonias, their soft stems hold lots of water but I think their cells are only thinly walled and they split in the cold weather. Fushias are stronger, their woody stems hold out against the cold….

And then I’ve got baby raspberries… Weird!

Don Letts portrait

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I don’t watch Sky TV because I can’t afford it, but the Sky Arts channel has appeared on my Free view TV. So…..

The fifth episode of the seventh series has three people posing: Don Letts, Katie Piper and Rob Rinder. I thought I would watch, then decided to draw. I mooched about on the Web and found a photo of Don Letts to work from. I was struggling to watch the TV because I really got into doing the drawing so I missed most of the programme. If I had to say what’s the worst bit of the drawing? The forehead is too wide and high. I tried adding to the hat but that didn’t really work. Plus the hands are a bit clumpy…. I may watch and draw next week too….

Baby raspberries

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I went out to take photos of our hanging baskets and took a photo of these at the same time. I was lucky to see them because they are a bit further into the garden.

I was surprised because they didn’t flower earlier in the year. I’m sure they won’t ripen, but I’ll give them 10/10 for trying!

I never know which bits of a flower are stamens bur whatever the little bits of fluffy stuff are, but you can clearly see where the ones that have been pollenated have started to turn into green fruit.

I’m pleased the photo turned out so clear, it was windy and hard to get the phone camera to focus.

Poppies for remembrance

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Poppies germinate in disturbed soil so when the First World War came to an end they sprang up in ‘Flanders fields’. This then became the iconic symbol for armastice day and is used as a way of collecting donations. Paper flowers are sold in shops and by volunteers to raise money for the Royal British Legion charity.

Poppies come in a variety of forms, among which are the common poppy, probably the ones that grew in the fields after the war. Welsh poppies, oranges and yellows. Californian poppies (I’m not sure they are the same plant as I think they are called Escholsia? not Papaver). Oriental poppies, which are grown in some places to make opiates. Himalayan blue poppy (mecanopsis) one of which I managed to grow last year. Then also different garden varieties, perrenials and annuals.

My favourite annual poppy is Shirley. Lots of variety of colours from pale pinks and whites to deep reds and with different shading, also the perrenial Patty’s Plum although it’s colour tends to fade. I also love painting them….

Meanwhile in hubby’s world..

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Double ‘O’ gauge Station with a green LMS ginty engine, 060. Model, night time view.

It’s just on a small piece of board but it’s got two platforms and an engine shed waiting for trains to enter for repairs and maintenance. Behind the platform stand beer barrels waiting to be loaded. This would be a small country town station, perhaps in Devon, although LMS trains would usually be found all over the country and were used for shunting local freight, acting as pilot engines that ran in front of main engines to assist them on steep sections of track. They were also engines for passenger trains. With the 060 wheel set up (no leading wheels, six main wheels and no trailing wheels) they could get round twisting tracks easier.

The board is too small to have moving engines, but it’s an idea of how a station would have been set up in the past.

Abstract

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An experiment

Acrylic on canvas, abstract, hillfort maze.

I don’t know what I called it originally but it reminds me of the maze like paths up to the top of Maiden Castle in Dorset. It’s not actually representative I liked the idea of adding glitter and colour to give it spirit.

When the sun Shines it sparkles.