Come on rain, its been the driest February for years. The trees and bushes need a good sprinkling of rain. I can see tiny buds on our willow tree but they aren’t opening. The branches and twigs are bare. We may get some snow this week. But I didn’t know that ten centimetres of snow is equivalent to one centimetre of rain? That’s because fallen snow is mainly made up of air (think of how snow flakes are crystals that branch and leave gaps and air pockets). Let it rain, for a while, water the trees, please!
Snowdrops surround the dam at the end of the pond at Rode Hall on the snowdrop walk at the weekend. Some of the daffodils are already up and we saw cyclamen and Helibores too. Spring is just round the corner and unseasonably warm weather has reached us from the south. Tomorrow we are expecting colder, more normal temperatures with possible snow showers. It’s no wonder the birds and insects get confused at this time of year.
How do i know the water is blue? Surely it’s transparent. But look at the sea. As you go deep into it you can see it stays blue until you go deep when it’s black. Then look at water at sunset. It stays blue even when the sky turns red doesn’t it? And in yellow white sunshine its very blue. Not green, not yellow, not red, not purple – Blue.
I asked for a photo of my beach painting from the lady who bought it (it went to the person who had commissioned it and I had forgotten to take a picture). She was really happy with it. I tried to get that feeling of water washing on and out, flowing over the sand. A few dark rocks sit in the bottom right hand corner and I really tried to get bright sunny colours into it. I found the blue hard to get right, so I used a turquoise hue to get that marine feeling.
When you heat your home with a log burner I guess you will get through a lot of wood, and apparently it has to dry out so that it burns hotter and steadily? This is what’s left of a friends store and she hopes this will last for a few months. The only problem that has been found is that wood fires give off carbon Dioxide and tiny particulates.
I guess eventually we will all have to shift our energy sources. My hubby says there is a hydrogen pipe line in the north west of England and that there is talk of adding it to gas supplies and even converting them to hydrogen only in time. I know some vehicles run on hydrogen fuel cells. The emissions when hydrogen is burnt is water, the hydrogen is produced by splitting the hydrogen and oxygen from water…. A circular system? All we need is energy to create it, solar power? And safety systems to make it safe as it has a higher burning temperature.
My hubby says it has a higher calorific value and has weaker electron bonds so its easier to split the bonds between the hydrogen atoms. Anyone who saw it being lit in chemistry class will know it ignites with an explosive bang! You can’t just use hydrogen for cooking and heating on its own as it burns too hot. The cookers and boilers will probably be OK with a mixture of hydrogen and methane. If they use hydrogen only they will need modifying or replacing. But that is for the future. In the meantime I hope my friend has enough wood for the rest of the winter.
Filtered photo, changed a photo of water and soapsuds by altering the colour of it. Then adding texture. In the end it either looks like crumpled satin or even red cabbage! Or it could be red wine, or a pool deep in the woods as autumn sets in.
You can describe anything by looking at it and deciding what it something you of, imagination is something you can cultivate. If you look closely you might see an eye or the profile of an imp with its mouth open? Bottom left/middle… Or a gorilla or a cat stretching…
Not satellite images. These are photos of my washing up bowl with the cold water tap running and a little bit of washing up liquid added. The bright patch and the dark curves are the sky and plant leaves reflected in the surface of the water and the running tap gave swirls and vortices that made the slight foam look like swirling clouds.
Sundays #bandofsketchers prompt was Antarctica. As penguins live in Antarctica I decided to draw one swimming in the sea. I did think about drawing them huddled together with chicks but they look so streamlined in the water. As usual a felt pen drawing.
Brrrr. I’m sitting feeling quite cold. Our central heating system is due to be serviced but even though its a very cold day I was expecting a bit more warmth… Its been a sunny day so it helped warm up the house…. But then hubby just said ‘I’d better shut the bedroom window!’ Wait? WHAT?
He had opened it about six hours ago because it was too hot up there. So I’ve had the central heating on full blast and we have effectively been heating the whole atmosphere!!! I asked him, again, not to do this, but he’s forgetful and he likes fresh air. Tempted to shut all the heating off….. Then he said I’d better turn the hose off… Ape that’s been on for four or five hours. No doubt there are icebergs in the garden now! Grrr and Brrrr
Starting a painting of a beach and the sea from above. It’s going to show the surf and the pebbles and sand. I want it to be gentle, a meditation, no words, no footsteps in the sand, just the quiet lapping of water as the waves roll in and out. A peaceful memory as a painting for a friend.
Mallaband-Brown 