I miss them…

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One if the worst things about the Internet is when people disappear and you don’t know where they have gone.

I have ‘lost’ a few people here recently. Perhaps it’s a new year and they have cancelled their membership, or decided blogging isn’t for them. Some of them had become friends, or I’d invested some time in reading their blogs. Some explained that this wasn’t working and they were going, others just disappeared. I can’t help saying I miss them. One person passed away. I knew she had been ill and I was sad to find out she was gone. At least there was a message put on her page to say she had died. I could grieve. But sometimes there is nothing, they become ghosts in my memory, sitting there, with no explanation. Then there are people who’s pages on Facebook are still open despite having died two or three years ago. Each time I see their faces on my friends list I feel sorrow, and yet it would feel wrong to ‘unfollow’ them. What to do. The etiquette of the Internet.. We need to learn.

What’s in a cage?

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What’s in a cage,

and what is a cage?

Are we trapped in a net,

or free?

Are we birds in cages

or enclosed by space?

How big is your cage?

Can you walk across a room?

Are their bars on your window?

Is there no way out.

No bus,

no car?

Are you stuck in your mind?

Many cages exist,

some are visible,

some are in your mind…

 

Hyacinths

Sitting on our windowledge in the kitchen, the hyacinths look lovely. I have no sense of smell but I can admire their beauty. Yet again I decided to create some symmetrical patterns. I like the intricacies of images like this. They create a surreal impact which makes you look again. As usual my pareidolia (is this the spelling) kicked in and I started to see faces in both images. The mind truly does play tricks on you.

Necklace

I thought I would post an old picture of one of my necklaces from my Facebook memories. I made the glass cabochon at a glass workshop with someone called Angela Ashton. She has moved away and I would like to find somewhere else to do this. The wire weaving is by my friend, I need to chase her to try and get some pieces back off her, but I’ve been preoccupied and keep forgetting to contact her. I don’t think it’s anything to do with my age, but when you are busy with other responsibilities it’s hard to keep on track.

Sometimes I just wish for freedom to be myself, and sometimes I feel I’m using it as an excuse not to do things.

Maybe I can pull things back together soon. I need to escape my cocoon and be a butterfly.

X

Button bowl

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I got this last year. Its a bowl constructed of buttons stuck together with PVA adhesive. It was made by a friend who used a bowl as a form to make its shape. The only thing is that it has deformed slightly because it was pushed into by another object.

I like her choice of colours and the way you can see the gaps between the buttons. I don’t think it will last forever. Perhaps it will turn into a forlorn heap of buttons, but it’s OK for now.

X

Lost cats

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Two years ago this is what I wrote on Facebook :

“Missing two black and white cats, in our house, somewhere under or behind the furniture….hopefully they will emerge when they get hungry. Hubby has been looking for them half the night. I keep telling him that will just scare them more…. I don’t know whether to get one of those plug in things that gives off a calming scent for cats?”

The photo is of the female who I hadn’t got to know as they had only been here for two days. At the time I didn’t know she was pregnant with four kittens (who we successfully rehomed). She is now very happy living here with her brother. They don’t hide, they like us now. I did get some of that stuff that calms cats down and it worked.

X

At Art Lunch, February.

Art lunches are happening once a month now. While I was there I drew a couple of visitors, my teacup and the tiny teapot that went with it, and also the view out of the kitchen of my friends house.

Art lunch is the opportunity for local artists and creative people to get together and talk about their art and network, or maybe just chat and relax.

Had a lovely time. X

Ivy grows

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As she sat on the ground by the house she felt the warmth of the sun calming her and relaxing her. It had been a long morning gardening. Now she had sat down with a cup of tea and a biscuit.

The ground she was sitting on was laid to lawn. Behind her the bare brick was partly covered with a few strands of ivy.

As she dozed in the sun next doors ginger cat came and sat on her lap. She dreamt of a perfect cottage garden, she would lift up the lawn and plant a bank of crocosmia and ox eye daisies. On the wall behind her she would remove the ivy and plant clematis and wisteria. Maybe a peach with branches strung out along the wall.

She gradually fell into a deeper sleep. The scents of the roses wafted across the garden. Time crept by. If you had watched a time lapse film of the day you would have seen the ivy seem to pulse, and grow….. Tendrils of green stretching. Ariel roots burrowing, not just into mortar but flesh. No way was the ivy going to be removed. Around the body of the woman the branches grew.

Finally all the moisture in it was sucked out, there was just a dried husk left. Tearing through eye sockets. From the mouth. The ivy created tiny berries. Dust fell to the ground, what was left? A mug and a plate. The wall was covered.