Poppies

Posted on March 3, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Fruit, Painting, Poppies, Poppy, RedLeave a comment

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One of my favourite plants is a poppy, the red of them is beautiful and I painted these to try and express their beauty. They are on a long thin canvas. Painted in acrylics and made to look a bit like pottery tiles. I showed this here a while ago but saw it on Facebook so thought I would share again.

Red is a colour that not many mammals can see. Apparently we see it because it’s the colour of some sorts of ripe fruit. Humans were attracted to it so red became a special colour. Red lipstick, red racing cars, red fruit, so many things that are visible only to a few animals in the world.

Fruit

Posted on March 2, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Chain saw, Colour, Exhibition, Fruit, Garden, Gardening, Life, Painting, Photo, Subjects, Tree2 Comments

Just found out I have been offered an exhibition at the Waiting room gallery in April. The theme will be gardening, green men and women and spring, but I also want to do colourful work. I’ve been going around looking for subjects in the house as the garden isn’t growing yet, just a few buds.

The light was streaming in through the kitchen window and illuminating all the fruit my hubby bought yesterday. So I took a photo of it.

I will try and get some more interesting shots later. At the moment a neighbour is cutting down a tree, so I’m staying out the way. The sound of chainsawing doesn’t fill me with confidence!

The two faces of Eve.

Posted on December 27, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Adam, Apple, Blogging, Eve, Fruit, Humour, Life, Myth, TasteLeave a comment

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Face left, face forward. Underneath her name and a long number. Her mug shot. She didn’t understand why. What was happening? She was being blamed for everything.

The snake in the tree had started it. It spoke! Talked about it being the tree of knowledge. Well she had always wanted to learn, to go to school, to get to university. What was wrong with knowledge? But they had said only men can do that. Women aren’t allowed, they might get ideas above their station.

She had tried an apple the snake had offered her. It looked tasty. Not evil? No, more like a braeburn. Having eaten, she told her friend Adam about it. He said if she could taste it then he would too. Later they tried other fruit off other trees. Now she’d been arrested for stealing fruit!

The sins of the world, they called it. All over one measly apple. Would you Adam and Eve it?

Pears

Posted on October 31, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Fruit, Gardening, Juicy, Life, Pear tree, Pears, Sun shine, Taste8 Comments

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People who read my blog a few weeks ago know that our pear tree had blown over, leaving the branches only about eight feet above the ground. We have had to prop it up with large pieces of wood. I have almost collected what was left on the tree and the ones we have are criss crossed with scars and dents. But once you peel the skin off they are juicy and sweet to eat. This photo was taken last year and I like it because the warm light is shining horizontally and turning the pears into almost liquid gold colours?

Bowls

Posted on October 3, 2019October 3, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Acorns, Bowls, Child's game, Conkers, Fruit, Fun, Historic game, Horse chestnut, nuts, Oak, Squirrels2 Comments

It’s that time of year, who said “the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness”?

A glut of pears, a bowl of acorns and a plate of conkers and pinecones. If we were hunter gatherers this would be a bountiful time. Nuts and fruit. Perfect.

Nowadays the squirrels eat the acorns. Carefully burying them in caches in the woods to eat in winter, and creating baby trees in the meantime. Children harden conkers in vinegar and play Conkers with them. Holes are drilled through them and a knotted string is threaded through. Each child takes it in turn to swing their conker and try and smash another child’s one. If they succeed they can call their conker a ‘one-er’ smash two and it’s a two-er etc. Until the winning conker has smashed all its opponents. The last bowl – of pears? Well they are nice, poached with custard or cream, baked in a pie or even a cake, and apparently you can eat them on a pizza with gorgonzola cheese!

Pear tree collapse

Posted on September 29, 2019September 29, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Crop, Environment, Fallen tree, Food, Fruit, Garden, Gardening, Life, Pear, Pear tree, Pears, Plants3 Comments

A shout from outside. My hubby had gone outside to feed the stray cat….

There’s a problem, a catastrophe.. The pear tree had blown over in the heavy rain and wind we have been having…

The tree has been gradually leaning more over the last couple of years, and each crop of pears has grown. Till this year we counted over fifty pears. But that of course pulls on the top of the tree.

We had propped it up with some wood, but that had snapped in half. What to do? We tried using an old exercise bike near the roots…

We also tried to pull as many pears off the tree as possible as they were now in reach. My hubby normally shakes the pears down which may be why it’s leaning!

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Finally we used the step ladder to prop it up a bit more. I don’t know if it’s salvageable, the trunk is split. It’s a shame if it has to go as the pears are very tasty. They were just starting to ripen, but the weather has been mad. We weighed the good pears (disposed of the split one’s). 11.7 kilos. Not sure what that is in pounds but I think it’s around 24 pounds.

I’m going to share some of the crop with friends….

Autumn is coming

Posted on August 28, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Autumn, Change, Fruit, Fruitful, Fungi, Garden, Leaves, Poem, Poetry, Season, Trees, WeatherLeave a comment

The season of Autumn is upon us, despite having temperatures of 33.7°C in some parts of the country this week.

Today was cooler, we had rain, the sky had been cloudy all day.

Autumn, changing days

Sun sets early, rises late.

Leaves turn from green to flame.

Ending a summers growth.

Fruit and fungi burgeoning

Apples become sweet, pears ripe.

Leaves lie deep, scrunch and crunch.

Life settles down until winters slumber.

Satsuma

Posted on July 26, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blogging, Fruit, Life, Photo, Satsuma, TrumpetLeave a comment

Photo of part of my lunch. I just liked the fruit and peel against the table top pattern. Isn’t it fab that the white lines on the table seem to mirror the segments of the fruit?

Its been a busy day, discussing a mural proposal, then having lunch, then off to a trumpet lesson ( the first for months) I’m learning a part of the new world symphony. Now I’ve got to get ready to go out for the opening of the three counties open exhibition as I managed to get a painting into it. I’m pleased because it’s chosen from submissions from artists in Cheshire, Shropshire and Staffordshire and is on at Burslem School of Art, Queen Street, Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent for a month. …

So a bit of a boring fruit based blog… Sorry!

Gooseberries

Posted on July 21, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Crop, Environment, Food, Fruit, Garden, Gooseberry, Gooseberry Bush, Growing, Life, Plant5 Comments

The crop! These are off one scraggy bush in the garden that was surrounded by stinging nettles. There is one red one somewhere in the jug from another bush but that one didn’t fruit well and we only found the one. I’m thinking if making a gooseberry and apple pie or cake. I think I’ve got the ingredients in to make one.

Gooseberries are not that popular and have a distinct taste. I can’t explain it, sour, green and fresh? I don’t know if you can buy them from a shop or supermarket, because they are a bit unusual. If I make something I might post a photo.

Cherries

Posted on July 14, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Beak, Birds, Cherries, Eating, Fruit, Fun, Garden, Gardening, Humour, Life, Pecking, Poem, Poetry, Red, RhymeLeave a comment

Loads of ripe cherries

High in the tree

Out of reach of human hands

But not from beaks you see.

Blackbirds, pigeons and magpies

Each have their fill

Of sweet red cherries

They have the skill,

Of flying high above me

Pecking at the fruit

Eating all the ripe ones

In their aerial persuit.

Sweet red cherries

Small and round and neat.

I go without

And the birds get a treat!

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Fruit