New paintings and regular art updates.
It’s still looking good despite the heavy rain we have been having. At least its meant that the hanging baskets have been getting watered. I think we have a bit of a microclimate so the area doesn’t get as cold as in the main garden, but it does get the sun when it shines in the afternoon. Hopefully everything will keep going for a while longer. The begonias have bee spectacular this year!
In the northern hemisphere at least. We’ve hit the equinox, when the day and night lengths are the same. Cold, arrives, now. Unless we get some late summer heat. There’s been hailstorm in the North East of England and heavy rain in Scotland. Across the Northern hemisphere there have been hurricanes in North America and Typhoons in Asia.
The other side of the world is experiencing Spring. The South is getting warmer as the Earth starts to tip its south Pole towards the sun. The tilt of the Earth means that we have seasons. If the world was at 90° day and night would be equal across the whole world. 12 hours of light, 12 hours of dark. No glorious late evenings in summer or long dark nights in winter. What an interesting world we live on.
And it’s not flat!
Not sure what ‘ee by gum’ means, I think it’s a polite way of saying ‘oh by god’ without blaspheming. I know it’s a phrase from Yorkshire. Anyway this photo of my hubbies flat cap hung on a little apple tree along with a lamp just said ‘northern’ to me. Today the sunshine has gone, its raining, so everything is getting wet. I’m still feeling a bit ill so I’ve just decided to have another quiet day. There are things I should be getting on with but I don’t feel up to it.
Ee by gum, in Yorkshire dialect… I feel tired, hope I feel better soon….
Oh I feel rough. My throat is really sore and I’m aching. I’ve had a very quiet day, plenty to drink and some painkillers. I’m sure it’s just an autumn cold but I’m fed up with it. I have things to do. College starts again tomorrow. I’m still walking and trying to get a bit fitter, but I feel like I’ve been knocked off my feet. I will see how I feel later but I might have an early night. I haven’t blogged much today. I have a few pictures I might add. I don’t know yet….
A mess of branches
before they were covered in green.
When air was cold and blue,
when stems bore ice.
When it was cold at night.
It was chill, and the moon shone,
through miriad twigs.
When night lasted
in the cold darkness,
from early dusk,
to late dawn.
Now the sun rises early
the heat rises to meet it,
I wake up late and fall asleep
late,
in the warm morning air.
This is the first day of spring, but it feels like mid winter. Our house isn’t that well insulated and if it gets cold it stays cold, high ceilings means that the heat rises and warms the upper part of the room before it gets to us down here on the floor. The wind is gusting from the north and whistling through the gap round the seal in the front window and kitchen. We had new windows put in, but I guess they were cheap, all we could afford. The front door slams when you go through it because they measured it wrongly, so the top sticks out more than the bottom, giving it a very strange cant.
The North Wind cools the house, rubs the heat away as it pushes past the walls. Out kitchen bathroom extention only has thin walls. It really needs an insulating layer outside, but instead ivy is taking over and a wisteria has been planted at the end. Plants don’t keep us warm, but the blackbirds like to nest in it.
Now I’m cooking our evening meal, the heat from the oven adds a little to the warmth. I could microwave the food, but the gas cooker gives a bit of extra heat.
One day it will be warm outside, the leaves will grow, and we shall have spring and summer. X
I went out with Urban sketchers today and was at an old farm near Eccleshall to draw. I took a few photos. I need to take good pictures of my drawings.
The day was grey, overcast with great rushes of wind that you could hear soughing through the trees. Starting far way you could hear it rushing and pushing the tree branches. Rooks were flying and calling in the air, scooting about and apparently enjoying it. We even saw a murmuration of Starlings flocking in the distance.
I sat on a white metal garden chair, strong but cold. I ended up folding up my scarf to stop my bum going numb with the cold. Within a few minutes I was shivering and then I got used to it although my hands started to go numb with the chill. Luckily there was hot tea available. It was very kind of the artists that live there to let a crowd of about twenty urban sketchers come round and draw everything from trees to stone dogs.
X
I am so tired, I have had a bad cold, and I keep falling asleep now. Dozing, sleeping, nodding. Too tired to keep my eyes open. I wish I was fit and well. OK its not serious, but I’m not doing things I want to do. I want my spring back in my step. My mojo back, my twinkle back in my eye! So I will try and sleep earlier, get some shut eye, keep warm and comfortable. Sorry to moan. I’m fed up, I’m sorry. Might write a bit more later. X
Oh what a week! My stats are down because I haven’t been writing much here. That’s because I’ve been ill. And that’s because someone in our panto cast decided to come in with a bad cold and proceeded to cough and sneeze over the rest of us. So grrrr!
I’ve finally started to feel a bit better today, taken a couple of paintings up to a local gallery and come home. Phew, I’m tired now!
Ladybirds sleep,
Tucked in the crook of a branch.
Butterflies hang dormant,
asleep in shed roofs.
Frogs start to spawn
ignoring the cold and ice.
Plants hunker down,
below the ground.
Fish are deep in the pond,
torpid, sleepy, quiet.
Where are the bats?
Hibernating in a loft,
huddled and shivering,
waiting for warmth.
Last years temperature was 21°C
Today it is 3°C…….
Cold garden
chilled fingers,
icy wind,
frozen nose….
Mallaband-Brown