Snowflakes, Starflakes and letters from the Queen

And door 17! The well prepared animator would have a Christmas pudding in her fridge. Sadly I am the ill prepared animator and so have only drawn one.

It was not supposed to snow today, so I drove my car to work. It started to snow in the morning so I panicked slightly and rushed the car home at lunch time and zoomed back on the bus. I was glad I did as it snowed and lay in the afternoon. The roads were not too bad really but I was still happier on the bus!

Everything was covered by the snow shower.

The colours of the pens looked good against the white.

In the morning a starflake landed on my hair. Natalie and Caroline saw it and took a hasty picture!

The nicest surprise of the day was a phonecall from Ann in the office this afternoon saying I had received a letter from the Queen! Just in the nick of time a letter was sent back to Jimmy. And one to me. Both lovely letters I thought. I took Jimmy's round to his class in the afternoon and his teacher read it out. When she said who it was from he looked pleased-and seemed happy he could keep it!

You might have to enlarge the photo to read them!

Friday Meanderings

Snow continues to dominate. I have been dreaming about it each night (proper in my sleep dreams-not just day ones!), the news is full of it, grit is running out, past years snowy winters are recalled and people express strong opinions on whether schools should be closed or not. Yesterday the two closest schools to us were shut but we were open. The buses are running ok so people can still get in. Our head did thank us all for getting in this week despite it being difficult.
In nursery we have interviewed parents of new children until today, when the older ones returned. This morning nursery had 10 children and this afternoon 8! It was lovely-quiet, and with time to really get into what we were doing. Some built a snowman, then later a snow castle. We rearranged an area of the classroom that is not working well, and this afternoon I worked with Ronnie and Michael as they made junk modelling castles. We had hot chocolate and biscuits too (not healthy I know, but cosy-and left over from the party last term!) Is it a salt? Is it a sugar? No it is a snow. (silly Ali G film about science on my mind here!)

Cute isn't she with her little multilink eyes.

Wondering which fabric to use for a doll, and also wondering whether to take part in One World One Heart this year. I would love to but it is coming up very soon and I don't know if I can fit in making something for it. Hmmm.

This is the door to the hall. I have fixed two hooks into the frame and hung up this fleecy fabric curtain to cut out the draft from the front door. It has made such a difference already! We should probably get an actual door there, but I like this solution for now.

I made another little lantern using stick on tape-it took about five minutes and looks pretty I think. I stapled a doodle into a cylinder too to make another one. So quick-suits my impatient nature. The third one is just plain.

My trusty sewing machine in action. I have had it for about twenty five years I think, though it went for a long time not being used. I am making two more tall skinny cloth dolls to keep this one company. If I get on with it quickly enough I will do OWOH. If not then so be it.

View of the shelf in my, what shall I call it?-studio-ha ha!, spare room, junk room, guest room-again ha ha! Back room. Sewing room. Box room. (I have an oil painting of boxes hanging on the outside of the door-from a charity shop years ago. So maybe box room is the best-it does have a lot of boxes in it) Crafty stuff storage room. Who knows, but if I didn't have it I suppose I would have to store the crafty stuff elswhere so I am grateful! I love these see through boxes. They stack, are pretty sturdy, and can be crammed quite full. I do dream of storage such as that found in this catalogue though.

More Snow

At the risk of being boring I am putting up yet more photos of snow. I love it!
Today was very bright and sunny and I went for another long walk-down to the river, passing through the local shopping park which was virtually empty, with many of the shops closed. There was a snow plough clearing the car park for tomorrow, for all those people who have been deprived of shopping for two days. This is my road at about ten this morning.

The beach-I like the horizontal lines in this picture and the way the snow stops at the edge.

These are flats right next to the river. These flats overlook the beautiful ecology park there.

A little moorhen on the ice. His friend below has an icy drip on the end of his beak!

I could imagine being in a Scandinavian wood at this point. The only people I saw when amongst all this beauty were a couple of dog walkers and another woman taking photos of the same snowman as me. Again, people were unusually friendly.

This is on the way back-the snow was really starting to melt.

I saw some great snowmen again today-this one is quite traditional.

This one not so much.

There is a definite trend for building snowmen on top of bins and walls. I liked the face of the one on the left.

This one is my favourite! He has his briefcase ready for work but is giving a cheery thumbs up as the snow has prevented him from getting there.

I liked this one's fruity face and rainbow scarf.

Tomorrow gets back to normal although I am not at school but on a course-'Forest School' which we are going to start at my school, once I know all about it. I am going on the bus though as the roads still look very slippery. My next post will be something different-not sure what but not snow! Though the odd photo might creep in here and there!

Snowy Day

The lovely snow has given me and lots of others a day off from work and a chance to get out and about and actually smile at people! There was a large snowball fight in my street this morning and a few communal snowmen being built! I like this Bob the builder with his traditional carrot nose. There was only a glimmer of sun for a while but other than that it has snowed steadily and been quite bleak. Lovely though! The red traffic light looked really vibrant against the grey.

I love these houses on the edge of Blackheath, whatever time of the year.

The crows looked suitably dramatic in the trees of Greenwich park.

Snow written with snow-an artistic teenager was walking a bit in front of me and was making patterns and this bold word on the wall with handfuls of snow.

This squirrel was the perfect creature for the amateur wildlife photographer as he very obligingly posed while I faffed around with my camera. He is probably eating one of the acorns I was searching for recently.

Here he is again on a different part of the tree.

This is the flower garden in the park-today transformed into Narnia.

Quite an ant like snowman.

A man on skis!

I liked the bright colours and the symmetry here.

A lot of the wrought iron gates I saw looked just beautiful.

The church just on the other side of my road.

My blue glass cat is looking especially pleased with himself today!

Snowy Evening

At last some proper snow.... Our little Christmas tree getting a snowy dusting.

The cats step out, only to find it is too cold for them. They step in again quickly and go to sleep in front of the fire all evening.

Well it is February.

I persuaded Andy to go for a little walk with me so I could take more snowy shots.

Andy is almost abstract.

This one looks like it has been scratched.

Cold me.

Cold Andy.

I like the blurryness. This is using the night time setting which is more fun than just the ordinary flash. This is our flat-home again!