Hubby’s mad boat

After struggling for a couple of weeks to get this toy speedboat working the boat was transformed into a combination DIY SOS and Waterworld/MadMax theme. (He’s used up most of my cotton to hold the sails up). He thinks he might put it on the lake in the park or on the canal. I’ve suggested it needs a string adding to the front so if it gets caught in weed he can get it out….. I like the way he’s added sails that rake backwards, but I wouldn’t want to sail in it, especially in a choppy sea!

Under the cats eye

Scrutiny, he watches, he’s the outdoor boy. Making sure you love him, have treats ready. A tickle behind his ears, under his chin, cheek rubbed. His cut nose is healing, not caused by our cats…

Then a look, aloof, I’ve had enough, I’m going out. He stands, stretches, front paws first, then back legs, doing the ‘downward cat’. Yowl, let me out. Gently closing his eyes looking up at me. I am under his spell. I’m OK while he’s out but as soon as he comes back. I’m gone. Xx

Sewing kit

All oof my cotton thread has been disappearing over the last few months. I was beginning to think we had borrowers like in the Mary Norton book ‘the Borrowers’, or maybe some magic elf Taylor using it to do invisible mending on worn clothes?

But no. I found my hubby winding my cotton thread around a mast and spars he’s attached to a toy motor boat. He’s taken the engine out. Why? Because he was having problems with the battery pack. So instead of getting a new one he decided to glue and tape the masts and cardboard sails to it. He’s been using the cotton to support the spars and mast. The boat looks like someone on Waterworld or Mad Max has been at it. It’s steam punk meets origami! I won’t show you a photo. I did find out he’s modified it a few times, and each time he’s used my cotton thread! Boo!

Baubles

Last year’s tiny paintings that I did of Christmas baubles. I sold them at a Christmas craft fair. I added ribbons and painted the backs of them black so they could be hung off Christmas trees. People seemed to like them and I sold three of them. I wish I could be doing the same this year. It was pleasant meeting new people, chatting, enjoying the spirit of the season. Not this year though. So I shall try and remember the good times and hope they come again next year. X

The DVD is out!

Humanus, the film we are extras in, has been released. Its a comedy, musical, romance, mystery, horror, zombie movie. Made by members of inter-theatre last year, it stars people of different abilities and including Niel Baldwin (Nello) who was the subject of the BBCs ‘Marvellous’ film.

I don’t know if it’s out on general release but it did win some awards at a film festival. If you want to look it up its called Humanus, directed by Steve Mitchell.

Changing colours

Have you tried adjusting the colours in a photo in curves? I had taken a bland photo of a tree outside my window and I decided to see what I could do with it. I wanted to increase the contrast, change the colours, add brightness to bring out where the light was in the photo to differentiate between the tree leaves and the background.

Curves is like a graph, by changing the height and depth of the curves you can enhance brightness and colour by making the curve higher, or lower the curve and the image loses brightness and can lose contrast too….. The curved graph representing this was up and down then back up again. All I can say is have a go and see what happens. You don’t have to accept the result and you can go back to how it was originally.