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Afternoon sunshine

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We came out of the cafe and the clouds had lifted in penkhull. The sun was shining and the breeze had dropped.

I saw a small plant with almost ivy shaped leaves and little white flowers with yellow centres. It reminded me of the woody nightshade we have growing in our garden.

I would have loved to take some seeds home but didn’t see any on the plant

I’m trying to grow as many interesting local plants in the garden to attract the bees. These were good because they are flowering right at the end of the summer.

I quite like asters and other autumn plants such as dahlias.

We did get some fluffy red valerian seeds. They make a bright display of colour in August onwards. They seem to grow out of cracks in the pavement. Much nicer looking than some other weeds or garden escapees.

1 inch sketches.

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Three 1 inch sketches for the challenge for urban sketchers Stoke on Trent. One was in the cafe at a local supermarket and the other two were drawn tonight at the pub. The dog would not stay still so I only had a few seconds to look at it. The violinist was playing and again I had to do a very quick sketch.

I enjoy drawing and it’s good to challenge yourself with something new.

More to follow over the month.

is the world hollow?

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Read a comment where someone thinks we live INSIDE a globe! But consider… If we did where does the sun go at night.? You see it set.. Are there holes for it to go through. Also the moon rises and sets.. Where does it go? The moon has phases.. But if we lived inside a globe they would not look the same from every position inside the globe…. Also where would the water be? If the hollow spheres walls were thick enough to hold you down by gravity, the gravity from the other side of the sphere would also be pulling water upwards so effectively you would have no tides except for the sun and moon which would have to be tiny to fit inside? Final point.. Stand on any part of the inside of the sphere use a telescope, you would be able to see across the sphere to continents above your head… And as a bonus how do you fit all the galaxies and stars inside… And where do they go in the daytime.?!

Holywell

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This time last year we visited Holywell in North Wales. It’s a little town set up a hill a bit in land from the coast  The actual Chapel of St Winefrid is on a steep hill and is accessed through a visitors centre that gives you the details of the story of the Saint.

There is a pool of water below the church building which is set into the hillside. Inside the building is the holy well where a spring of clear water rises up and wells out of the ground. The architectural details are lovely and there is a real feeling of peace to the place despite it being next to quite a busy road. I think we will visit again.

Archery ?

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I’ve been going to Archery now for about 6 months off and on. I thought I would be getting better but struggle with the whole thing somehow.

While my partner shoots bare bow (without sights) and has gradually improved, I feel I’m actually becoming less accurate. He got eight golds last week where I just got 2, and this week I kept missing the boss  (the support the paper target is pinned to).

It looks easy, lift up your bow, pull back on the bowstring, look through the  sight and let your arrow fly. Watch it wobble in its flight towards, then over, under, to the side of the target…missed again! I try and place myself in the same position each time, holding the bow not too tightly, trying not to pinch my fingers around the knock end of the arrow so it releases from the string smoothly. Place my hand holding the string under my chin with my nose and mouth touching the string. Sight along the arrow using a sight that has a hole with a little dot in it so that it is sighted over the gold. But a tiny deviation where you are is large when you have a target 20 yards away and worse as you get futher away from it.

I’m going to keep trying, I hope I can do it, I will persevere.

 

Inktober

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You may or may not have heard of Inktober also known as #inktober or #inktober2018 its something that comes up at this time of year where artisrs are encouraged to draw something in ink for each day of the month. The drawings are shared on instagram under these two hashtags. Oh and I forgot each day has a theme I think. There was a list last year but I haven’t seen it yet.

At the same time the urban sketchers I am a member if have set a 1 inch drawing challenge for the month. Each of us is trying to do a drawing in a 1 inch square for the month of October, so I’m trying to amalgamate the two and kill two birds with one stone as the old saying goes.

Whether I will fulfill the challenge depends on how busy I get, whether I remember to draw and if I remember to post. I think I might report back here once a week. If course I could draw everything and just post one drawing a day, but I like the spontaneity of the idea , so I will try and draw in the moment.

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Apples

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I really must use these apples up. We have had them for a couple of weeks and apart from stewing them I also made an apple lattice pie. But its that time of year when you get a glut of fruit. Im wondering whether to slice them up and then freeze them? Or maybe make them into apple sauce, or even chutney. But I dont have any recipes. I guess I could make something up…..

I made some cider with a friend last year, its still brewing as far as I know, but she moved away and I dont want to pester her about it.

Apples are interesting. I think there are a lot of old varieties that have disappeared over the years, leaving one or two surviving without people knowing where they are. Old trees in old orchards that have been neglected. But which might be an extraordinary discovery if one is ever found.

What do you want?

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There was a tap at the window, quiet, maybe a branch had gently knocked against it in the strong, cold wind outside. She lay back on the bed, the sunlight, so strong earlier on was fading into a gloomy clouded evening. The room was cold so she pulled the thin sheet up over her head to keep what warmth she was generating from her breath in under the covers. As the darkness deepened she started to fall asleep.

Then suddenly the knock came again against the window. The noise was a sharp click, scratch. She woke with a shock. How could there be a noise ? She slowly took a look to see what it was. She was on the second floor, so how could anyone, anything be tapping ?

The hairs started to rise on the back of her neck. She felt scared and fascinated at the same time. She slipped out of bed pulling her dressing gown on and wrapping it tightly around her.

Stepping up to the window sill all she could make out in the darkness was some sort of feathery mass. Then two eyes gleamed in the dark. Sitting on the outer sill was a tiny owl. It must have flown up to the window as the sun set.

“what do you want”? She thought to herself. But the owl, seeing her movement, turned its head around and fluttered off into the darkness,.

 

At Cheddleton today

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We went to Cheddleton today, a little village in the Staffordshire moorlands near to Leek. Cheddleton Station is part of a preserved railway called the Churnet Valley line. It runs from Leek brook junction, through Cheddleton and on through various tiny stations to Froghall.

The railway society run several special days throughout the year and this weekend was world war 2 themed. A singer was singing old 30s and 40s songs. She was dressed in a uniform with badges saying ENSA on them which was the group that used to entertain the troops .

I had forgotten my phone so ended  up doing some drawings on a sheet of A4 paper folded into quarters. I only had an old black felt pen with me  but that helped with the shading. I was able to draw one of the trains standing in the station (about 10 minute sketch) and one if the singer (15 minute sketch) . As I drew the pictures I joked that I might have been arrested as a possible spy during the war. After all who would want to draw train and railway details ? It is odd how paranoid the world seems to be these days and how simple activities can make you think about things. I wish I had taken some photos to show the reality of the place, with the trains and the classic cars that were there. There was also a large gun like a howitzer being carried on one of the trains.

We went for lunch at the School house tea rooms at Cheddleton and had a lovely meal. It was a good afternoon out.