Red, Yellow, Brown and Green

All these colours say 'the 70s' to me.

The poppies were bought as seedheads a while ago and I took a fancy to dissecting one last night. So many seeds! The shape of the seedhead is very pepper like-especially where the stalk joins. They are just the sort of thing we used to draw in art at school. I used to love still life drawing, especially of vegetables.

Shadows and Postcards

The sun is out now as I write. It has not been out much recently so it is very welcome! Below is a shadowy scene from the kitchen-flower and twig lights in a vase that brighten up the evening, and make pretty shadows in the day. Shadow shot Sunday is here at HeyHarriet. Postcards from Paradise is here at Recuerda Mi Corazon.

Yellow and white with a hint of blue are the first postcard-straight from the kitchen again!

Red sunset on Friday night.

River Bank and Travel Plans

A trip to Sainsbury's was improved by a visit to the river to drink coffee and sit in the mild air. The beach was busy for once, with beach combing families, and this man who looks like a beach artist. His purple top looks good against the yellow boat.

This family were all intrepid beach combers, not letting mud put them off!

Little flashes of red and a great square of yellow contrasted well with the greys and browns of the scene.

The travel plans are those of my travelling doll project doll, who is now all done and ready to go! She has a little cardboard suitcase, a guide book about her destination Budapest, and her passport. She can't wait to get there!

William Hague

Just in case you were wondering-here is William Hague. This one is for you Anne!

The site below is great-lots of first hand pieces of historical evidence.

Eye witness accounts

Rye

I decided to drive to Rye today for a browse around the junk shops. I am quite addicted to this and Rye is a good spot. The day started off well-I went up to the local shops to get something for breakfast-croissants and strawberries-eaten over the day in the car-so glad I bought them! The area where the shops are is called Blackheath Standard and is a kind of triangular roundabout-a triangabout I suppose. It has a beautiful display of crocuses (croccii?) which I wanted to take a picture of before they are over. Not great pictures but it gives the idea-they do look so pretty in reality.

Then I set out. For some strange reason I went a different way to normal-thinking it would be more direct, but forgetting that going through a large town-Maidstone-would mean traffic queues. I needed the loo so had to stop in Maidstone, and the only parking space in the carpark was in the car cleaning spaces so the car got cleaned. There is not much point to this particularly uninteresting tale, apart from that was how I ended up in a large department store waiting for the car to be done. These ladies leaning over the rail caught my eye-the headless state reminding me yet again of the Tudors, and also making me think it was a little pointless leaning over the rail as they could not see anything anyway! Purple and pink must be the colours for Spring attire. It then took me about two more hours to get to Rye-munching croissants and strawberries and wondering what posessed me.

I eventually arrived, and did enjoy the browsing. A few things were purchased, my favourite being this head. If you don't like dolls, or find them at all spooky, please look away now! This little head was hiding under a shelf, and I picked him up, then put him dowm and went all round the shop. I came back and found I couldn't leave him! Look at those ears and those sweet eyes. He reminds me of someone and I can't think who. (I've just realised-it's a young William Hague! I have bought a small plastic Tory!) He is now, officially, part of my collection of heads!

The cigar box is perfect for making a shrine for the Oaxaca Street Children Grass Roots benefit auction. For details visit Rebecca here.

A Rare Sort of Day

A rare day where I read in front of the fire, dozed, watched a film, and not a lot else. I seem to have been reading this book for ages, and have found time today to finish it. I really enjoyed it for its portrayal of the court of Mary 1st and for the central character Hannah, a girl/woman living in very difficult times, an independent thinker, highly educated, hiding her faith, and someone who managed to be a loyal friend to people who were in conflict with each other. She was most inspiring.

Then I read this book. The author was given a toy rabbit, and had a dream of it lying on the bottom of the sea. From that dream came this beautiful story. I had not heard of it, and bought it on the recommendation of the woman who came to do our staff meeting the other day. She was introducing a reading project and the main interest in the meeting for me was the long list of books! She said that this one would 'make you cry' and it did. I highly recommend it!

I did go out to Greenwich to get something to eat. The sun still has not come out so the mood was gloomy. The way the clouds hung around the top of Canary wharf and other tall buildings reminded me of being in Scotland in a cloud.

I liked the flashes of red of the cars and bus.

The Cutty Sark is still being rebuilt, and I had a look through the window to the work. Lots of activity and some good advice on their signs. They could mainly apply to the house too.

I have been listening to Dracula on radio 7 (my new favourite radio station) and looking at these boxes made me think of Dracula being transported across the sea. The steps that have been destroyed in the background have not been there that long. I wonder what they are doing to this area. I think it is all being tarted up in preparation for the olympics. I think that is the target for finishing the Cutty Sark.

Half Light

I took Tiger and Lily to the vet's this morning for their injections. There was a woman there with a big excited Staff. (Staffordshire bull terrier-they are always excited.) It looked hungrily towards the cat baskets, as she old me it was not her dog. She had found it wandering nearby. It was microchipped, so the veterinary nurse rang the number. She was told by the woman who owned the dog that she didn't want it anymore, and that she would not collect it. She had just let it go! The dog's name was Temper Blue, and she was really sweet-sitting when we told her too rather than continuing to leap around, and really enjoying all the attention she was getting. The woman who brought her in was quite upset. The vet was going to keep her and arrange for the dog warden to come and get her. I hope they manage to find her a new home. I took the baskets back to the shed and saw the violets looking pretty on the lawn. I saw a frog in the pond and a black cat on the neighbour's shed. In the half light we have had today and since the weekend, everything seemed very cold and pale, apart from the lovely purple and green of the violets.

Daffy-down-dilly, dolly and feet.

“Daffy-down-dilly came up in the cold, Through the brown mould. Although the March breeze blew keen on her face. Although the white snow lay in many a place.”
Anna B. Warner
I always think the words Daffy-down-dilly when I see a daffodil, but did not know where the they came from. The daffodils on my windowsill are from Jenny yesterday, and were so bright against the dull day outside-as if light was coming from them.

I have spent this afternoon carrying on with my travelling doll project doll. I have made cloth covers for her feet and legs and padded her bottom! I didn't realise what expression there can be in a bottom until today!

This shot just makes me laugh! She looks like a dancer to me-though who knows what she will turn out to be.

Eight feet in red, brown, black and white.

A Country Walk

Welford Park, in Berkshire, opens in February for a month, to show off its beautiful snowdrops. It has woods, a river, a swamp, formal gardens and secret gates. There is a dog cemetery, dogwood, aconites, a sweet tearoom and a pretty church. I have come home with a couple of pots of snowdrops, to add to my tiny clump. They are best planted 'in the green' and are supposed to multiply a little every year. Mine were doing but this year have not! There are lots of photos today so you can follow me on my walk if you like. As we were driving there we went through some woodland. Ahead on the road we saw a line of five deer crossing-in a very orderly and beautiful way. As we drew level to where they were they had become invisible in the wood again.