New paintings and regular art updates.
Looking for comfort food, I’ve got strawberries in the fridge but no cream. I’m going to get some tomorrow. I want something fresh and summery to remind me summer is going to arrive, that picnics might happen again. That I can visit the park again with friends one day. That life can be restored.. All that in a bowl of strawberries and cream….
Pink summer Fushias. Looking forward six months and they will be here in June or July. A riot of colour covering our wet and soggy gardem and back yard. I can’t wait. Flowers are uplifting and cheering. They make great subjects to paint and though green has been proved to calm the mind, I think the colours of flowers add joy and happiness… .
Seasons come and seasons go
Sometimes wind and gales blow
Winter comes the cold is sharp
Spring time and the singing lark.
Fills the world with sweet delight
But the spring soon takes its flight
Summer time comes round again
Sometimes hot, sometimes with rain.
Flowers bloom and butterflies flit
Through the world all brightly lit
Later days get old again
Leaves they fall in autumn rain
Waiting till the end of year
Darkness comes but no fear
Always after winter comes
spring arrived with glorious blooms.
Sunlight streaming through the window Shines on Christmas cards and books, ornaments my sewing kit. As the sun rises it also travels south in the sky in winter. Then in the afternoon it appears to move downwards and West. So because of the way the earth is tipped on its axis the position on the sky moves in arcs that tip further south in the winter and further north in summer. So the sun appears overhead eventually.
If the Earth was rotating on a vertical axis at 90° to the plane of the solar system, then day length would stay the same all over the world. 12 hours day and 12 hours night. There would be no seasons. There would probably be no poles as all parts of the earth would receive the same amount of heat from the sun.
Instead the tip of the axis means that the day length changes over the years. So at the solstices the earth has turned to have its poles either closest or furthest apart from the sun. It’s also complicated by the earth travelling in an elliptical orbit round the sun. In the summer in the North of the world the sun is actually slightly further away from the earth than in the winter.
Anyway enough of celestial mechanics. Don’t get me started on the moon! Happy Boxing day. X
Memory of summer
Im there again
amongst the scents
of floral heaven.
baskets of joy
lavender spikes
cornflowers glowing blue.
heady pinks
nasturtiums
and twining vines.
Over all
an angel
protecting and
providing
sunshine
rain
and light.
Tranquil water
Peat stained stream
Full of life
Nature’s dream.
Tiny fish
That hide in pools
How I miss
Ice cream, cool
Dappled sunlight
Dusty paths
Sometimes too bright,
Sunlights flash!
Over stepping stones…
Feet to splash
Memories recalled
Of times fast dash.
I was reviewing my photos from the summer and saw this in my hanging basket flower. Not a bee but a snail! How did it get up there.. Must have crawled up the wall, then the fence and finally across the hanging basket to get to this flower. I hope it enjoyed its meal.
We’d been out all day on holiday one summer in Devon, we came back to the caravan we were staying in. A crowd of people were on the beach and some people were in wetsuits about thirty yards out in the sea. I saw a dolphin so decided to swim. Didn’t know how long it would be around so I just took my glasses and shoes off and got in fully clothed! I swam between the crowd at the shore and the ones further out. He, the dolphin (oh dear clearly male) kept swimming backwards and forwards and as I was in the middle he kept swimming next to me! After an hour I swam back in shore. Why do I know it was a male? Er, a long appendage! There was a notice on the campsite the next day. You can catch illnesses from dolphin breath out of their blowhole. They say swimming with dolphins is relaxing, but I didn’t expect that! The dolphin it turned out was an adolescent male called Georges x
It’s amazing what will grow in a hanging basket. There are cyclamen that my hubby recently planted at the back of this basket, plus miniature sunflowers he planted the seeds of in the spring. An interesting combination at this time of year….
Today is cold, wet and windy. You can see the raindrops on the window, but as long as the temperature does not fall too low these should last a little longer. Below the basket you can see begonia leaves. Their flowers are still surviving too. Any little bit of food for insects. I hope the bees got their fill this summer.
The thing on the fence is our weather station, I can see the weather when I look out the window, but it’s good to watch the air pressure going up and down…
Today we had the task of replacing the plants, hanging baskets and pots in the back yard that we had taken down to have a new fence put in. The next door neighbour had allowed us in to get at his side of the wall so we’ve helped him by clearing back the brambles and Ivy and cleared his path so he can get to the back gate.
Now the pots are back I can see which ones have suffered from drought and the cold. They were all crammed together in our garden (on the other side of the house) but it was cold last night so some things have wilted. We have a real microclimate in the yard and it’s always a bit warmer there. Hopefully they will bounce back in the coming days.
Mallaband-Brown