Cat in garden

Posted on August 9, 2020 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Art, Begonias, Cat, Cat sculpture, Design, Fun, Garden, Life, Plants, SculptureLeave a comment

This is the cat statue I showed on this page yesterday, in situ in the garden. I’m afraid the plants have dried out a bit and wilted in this heat. I might put some new pots in front of the cat.

I think the lilies are being munched by lily beetles. They are big and bright red. They don’t have spots like ladybirds. I’m hoping they don’t do to much damage. You are supposed to squash them but I can’t do that.

Anyway, thanks to my friend again for making Esher cat. He is a real friendly face in the garden.

International cat day

Posted on August 8, 2020August 8, 2020 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Art, Blacksmith, Cat, Design, Garden, Garden sculpture, International cat day, Life, Plants, Sculpted Steel, Sculpture, Steel2 Comments

IMG_20200808_224703_997

This is the cat sculpture my friend from Sculpted Steel made for me from a sketch I drew. It’s lovely and she just shared her photo for international cat day. It cost quite a bit but it was worth every penny. It now lives in my garden with plants growing through and round it. I am very grateful to my friend for creating it for me. She is a brilliant blacksmith.

Birds in the garden

Posted on August 8, 2020August 8, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged 'i' weekend guide, Animals, Art, Avian, Beauty, Birds, Environment, Flight, Garden, Illustration, Life, Nature, NestingLeave a comment

2020-08-08-16-49-18

We had a lovely chart in the ‘i’ paper with ots of bird a you can expect to see in your garden. Of the thirty or so species illustrated, I think we get about half visiting our garden. They are Blackbirds, Blue tits, Robins, Song Thrushes, Great tits, Coal tits, a Jay, House sparrows, Woodpigeon, Collared doves, Feral pigeons, Wrens and Magpies. We probably have other species but sometimes it’s hard to identify them. Hubby told me he saw a Nightjar a couple of weeks ago but there has been no sign of it since. The best thing is seeing chick’s being raised. Baby Wrens and Robins, we also have nesting Blue tits and Blackbirds. It means we don’t cut the hedge till late in the year. But I’d rather have a scruffy hedge and happy birds.

Washing day

Posted on August 7, 2020August 7, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Clothes, Fun, Heat, Hot, Humour, Life, Plants, Poem, Poetry, Shirts, Silly poem, Springs, Trousers, Washing, Water2 Comments

IMG_20200807_211454_760 rusty bedsprings

Slumped by the wall.

Used to support beans growing tall.

A line of washing shades the view

Helping ease the sun’s bright hue.

Plants bathed in heat

Wither and dry

Turning brown

Hope they don’t die.

Above all water of life,

Carried in the clouds

Stopping great strife.

Overall its a British summer.

Bright in parts, in others dimmer.

Some places have vines,

Others marrows,

As the heat of the day

Makes eyes narrow.

So interesting view

Shirts, trousers a few.

Dry in one day.

That’s all I can say.

Friends bean and tomato plants.

Posted on August 7, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Beans, Blogging, Friend, Garden, Gardening, Happy, Life, Plants, Tomatoes, VisitLeave a comment

Visited a friend who has some bean plants growing and some tomato plants.

I was jealous, my tomatoes only have a couple of fruits on them. And we don’t have any beans. But I admire her ability to grow them. It’s good to go out and visit people at a distance. It’s better than sitti g in my house. I still wear a mask even if I’m outside. That made it hard to have a glass of elderflower cordial so I relented because I was thirsty and we kept a good six feet apart. Now I’m back home in the cool. It was 36° C in places today. The hottest August day since 2003, and it’s forecast to get hotter!

Cat got to the vets!

Posted on August 6, 2020August 6, 2020 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Bag, Blogging, Cat, Cat in a bag, Inoculated, Life, Planning, Vet, Visiting the vet4 Comments

It was time to take my cat to the vets for her second inoculation. But she knows when I’m planning things, she’s very bright. What to do? I got some nice cat food but didn’t give her any until just before we were due to go out. She followed me into the kitchen and I shut the door. Next I shooed her into the bathroom and shut that door. I had prepared her carrying bag so I quickly scooped her up. Put her in the bag and flapped the lid over… But I couldn’t hold the bag shut and zip it. So I called hubby… He didn’t hear me! The doors were shut! I had to carry the bag with the flap closed by holding it shut and carry it into the living room where my hubby closed the bag.

Result! My cat got her shot!

Slow

Posted on August 6, 2020August 6, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Bad jokes, Blogging, Exercise, Funny, Humour, Life, Snail, Tired, Trying, Up hill, Walking1 Comment

_20200806_205945

I was walking up our hill today and this passed me….

I’m not saying I walk slowly but paint can dry before I get back from a walk.

My feet are so flat my arches are basements?

I walked about three miles today. I couldn’t find the off switch for the treadmill!

I’m not saying I’m tired, but I can’t walk to the fridge now!

Bad jokes…..

Usk challenge ‘what’s good for you’

Posted on August 6, 2020August 6, 2020 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged #uskstoke, Escape, Etruria, Etruria Artists, Etruria Industrial museum, Life, Lockdown, Meeting a friend, Morning visit, Stoke-on trent, Urban Sketchers, Urban sketchers challenge2 Comments

Drawn outdoors, we met with an old friend today, properly socially distanced. I was wearing a mask and gloves, and with my glasses on I feel reasonably safe. I ended up drawing my friend and when he went off for a walk I drew the landscape. There were some big trunked willow trees with wrinkly bark in the background, there tiny leaves contrasting with their aged, thick branches and trunks. It has been an overcast day so the colours were not brilliant. After this I took some photos of some interesting views of the area and some of the weedy plants growing along the track. I might post pictures later. When I got home I saw the USK challenge was to draw what’s good for you, and this was it!

I want to be out!

Posted on August 5, 2020August 5, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Beauty, Before, Blogging, Countryside, Garden, Life, Memories, Missing the world, Pandemic, Photo, Scents, Thinking, Waterfall2 Comments

FB_IMG_1588721437502

By a waterfall, in the countryside, with friends. A little picnic, some cheese sandwiches, a flask of tea? An apple or a banana. Sunshine, a scent of flowers on the breeze. Driving a few miles further than I have for the last few months. Out of the city. Where my feet can touch grass. Where my eyes can be dazzled with colour and the clouds are as white washed cotton. I want time to go back. Before pandemics and Covid, before corruption and death..

Is it too much to ask?

Sketching

Posted on August 5, 2020 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Blogging, Cross hatching, Drawing, Fun, Life, Pencil, Poem, Poetry, Shading, SketchingLeave a comment

_20200717_171332

Draw something fast

Draw something quick

Sharpen a pencil

A conte stick.

Shading and hatching

Playing with angles,

Draw lines and curves

Twisting and turning

You know drawing makes me happy.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Life