Baby birds

The blue tit babies have fledged and were on the bird feeders today. My hubby saw eight of them in a row on the fence this morning. Unlike previous days it’s been quite cold, but at least there has been rainwater about for them to drink and we provide fat balls and seed and mealworms for all the birds in the garden. There are blackbirds and robins, green finches and house sparrows in the garden, plus wood pigeons as well as the blue tits and also coal tits. We also see wrens. In fact I think we have done really well for bird life this year. I just hope the cats keep away from the birds.

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A-Z

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As part of my coursework I need to come up with a different mark for each letter of the alphabet. The first decision is to choose what tool to use to make these marks. I have used a 0.8 tip unipin ink pen. But I could have chosen charcoal, or a brush, or some other form of mark making. Then I could choose colours as well as shapes. I am not sure if I have chosen the right sort of format. The next step will be to draw something using shapes for a few letters only. Say five or six of them. Maybe my shapes are too small? It’s all like a big puzzle.

Usk challenge Thursday

Black and white and then coloured in sketch. View from my kitchen window out over the cherry tree in the garden. A few cherries are starting to ripen, but most are still green. The plants on the windowsill have grown up so they seem to merge into the garden. I’ve limited the palette of the pots and ornaments so that it is not overpowering the bottom of the drawing. My sanctuary away from the rain…

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New pens to draw with..

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I’m drawing so much, I had to go and buy some new drawing pens today. Six thin to thick pens. I look forward to using them for new projects. I will start using them over the next few days. They contain pigmented India ink whick which has maximum light fastness, they are waterproof, odourless, permanent and have other attributes that seem to make them ideal for drawing with.

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Bubbles

Photos taken a year ago at Etruria canal festival.

Oh what a change in things in a year. When will we go back to some form of normal? Or has our bubble burst?

We never expect things to happen to us. The world is hit with storms and earthquakes, but it’s always somewhere else. Until now. Life has been so strange, so different to the last few years. I guess it was about time something bad happened……

But anyway…

Happy bubbles.

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Poppy

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A poppy painting I did a while ago.

This recent warm sunshine is bringing all the poppies out into flower. We walked into town, and where the pathways have not been sprayed with weed killer, all sorts of plants, including oriental poppies, are springing up. Mother nature is taking over.

But… In places where people have been allowed to meet up, the beaches, and parks, the main growth is in litter. People do not take their rubbish home with them. Why are humans such a filthy, messy, species. I thought we were giving the earth breathing space. But people’s ethos seems to be having what they want, and ignoring the damage they create.

I don’t think humans deserve this wonderful world. Really.

Fish trapped in glass

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‘I  admit it’ , she said, ‘ I am a hoarder’ .

‘We are concerned about your safety’, said the officer. ‘I have to tell you that, unless you clear up, your home is at risk’.

She closed the door as he left, and thought about what he had said. ‘this is my home’ she thought. ‘But everything I have means something, I love all my nic nacks, my ornaments’.

Reluctantly she started to look through her things, ‘this is the glass cat with the fish, nan gave it me, what shall I do?’

The knock on the door a fortnight later jarred her out of her reverie. ‘who is it?’, ‘your housing officer’ came the reply.

‘Go Away!’ she shouted. ‘I don’t want to see you!’

‘I’m afraid you must. I have a notice of seeking possession here if you won’t work with me!’

‘Work with you? All you did was come round and tell me off!’

‘anyway’ she said ‘I’m buying the house’.

The officer was confused. ‘What do you mean?’ he shouted through the letterbox.

‘My nans glass cat! – turns out it belonged to someone famous, priceless, they called it on the antique street show’.

Silence.

‘I’m rich she said, now Go Away!’