Today is better...

Today is better than yesterday. (more detail in my comments section)
Today I have dealt with the sadness of seeing ALL the cherry trees cut down in Nicholson Square. Apparently the Council complained that they only flowered once a year! Hello - most city trees don't even flower once, these were a joy to behold every May and I always took some photo's, even when they turned the area into a building site...


Falling on a car bonnet, May '06


1 corner of Nicholson Square's Cherry trees May '07
stealing the show despite skips and port-a-loos

Today I woke after having 4 hours solid sleep (that's good).
Today I got the last bottle that was missing from my ethical wonder pills collection (Viridian Multi Phytonutrient Complex).
Today... I rode my bike!

On a still, calm, dry day it is much less painful than walking. We just haven't had any days like that since September, maybe even August. It's been such a wet and windy winter. But today was a true Spring day. It was pure joy to take Lucy to her favourite fields once more. They are only 10mins walk from home when I'm well, but just now it would take me 30mins to get there. On the bike it was about 7mins.


One of Lucy's favourite fields, June '07
we went to the flatter one behind the trees today

We had a few 'incidents' but on the whole she was pretty good at staying by my side and not toppling me over. When we got to the field it was so flat I was able to go fast with very little effort so she could really run run run beside me. A very beautiful sight. I was gasping for air after 5mins but so was Lucy so I felt no guilt about collapsing in the dry grassy hummocks to rest. She lay beside me and soaked in the hot sun, it was lovely! I've really needed a day like this. For 20 minutes, in that dry grass, away from cars and people, I felt like my old self. My natural states of being are either making things, or being out in the countryside with dogs. I have missed both but it's good to know that when there are more calm days I can go there again. Here is a taste of what's to come later in the year...


Elderflower buds, June '07


A vase of hedgerow flowers, June '07


Hedgerow flowers (detail), June '07

Nek Chand: The Rock Garden, Chandigarh

Camel ride at The Rock Garden, Chandigarh
originally uploaded by Velachery Balu

I don't mean to give the impression that I watch TV all day, but did you see the Indian episode of Around The World in 80 Gardens? I was besotted by Nek Chand's Rock Garden in Chandigarh. The unique garden is a perfect marriage of passion, obsession, recycling, sculpture, gardening and bloody hard work created in secret (and what is better than a secret garden) over decades.

Nek gathered all the waste remnants on his bicycle to bring back and transform in the 25 acre garden on land he didn't even own. The garden was threatened with demolition several times and one of those times was saved by people forming a human shield to stop the bulldozers. A great story, a magical place.


originally uploaded by jratcliffe (a great flickr set of the garden)
also a wider shot with more of the people was taken by Matthew Winterburn.


originally uploaded by Bailoo

These photo's are from flickr, but to see it at it's best you should watch the program because this place is full of movement and life. There are 5 days left to watch online though I now realise some of you are denied access if you live in other countries, not fair. The filming shows best how the areas interlink, how the people connect with the spaces and how stunning the waterfall areas are as they flow. I'd love to spend a whole day there walking the "more than a kilometre of long meandering pathways, full of natural and handmade wonders' with all the birds and animals that are said to fill the garden.


originally uploaded by Iharkness


originally uploaded by krazykrayons


originally uploaded by Chris Walker


originally uploaded by menakanayyar


originally uploaded by Koshyk


originally uploaded by ToreaJade

Update July 2011: I was concerned to see that the Nek Chand website hadn't been updated since I originally wrote this post so I did a check to be sure it hadn't been demolished and happily, it's still going strong. Earth Drifter visited it last month and talks about how the people were as much a part of the experience as the place. I'm so pleased it's still there and going strong. If you'd like to visit Travel Tips has information on transport.

There is a website called Friends of Rock Garden which has photo's, videos and blogs from people who have volunteered. Here is a link to the Nek Chand Foundation Student and Volunteer program . The website has a lot of backround to the garden and includes a page listing books featuring the garden. As someone who has done a lot of volunteer work I've learned that it doesn't always turn out as you'd expect and I've often had to be very proactive in creating work to do. The same may be true of volunteering at the rock garden. I read a link from a design student Katie who's 2009 volunteer group left half way through the program because they weren't being given any volunteer work to do. Hopefully the program is more organised now and this isn't an issue, but it's always better to be prepared for things to be different from your expectations so that you can find a way to still make the most of the experience.

And for those of us who may never get to visit the gardens in person here is a link listing places to see Nek Chand's work internationally, which shows he's finally getting the recognition he deserves.

paper, pills and pests

A page from my papercut sketchbook 1991

You know on films when they have those machines that shoot tennis balls at, and they always go crazy and start shooting 100's of balls really fast? Well that's what February has been like so far. I'm trying to avoid getting hit too much, but it doesn't leave much time for blogging.

Not sure if I said but my brother is taking me on a trip for my birthday next month (details to follow) so I've been trying to get myself well enough to sustain some walking, though he is renting a car. I'm eating frech herbs from teh garden every day (mostly Thyme, I love thyme). I've splashed out on Mega-doses of all manner of supplements, vitamins, herbs, minerals, and all the weird and wonderful things in between.

I finally bought some new essential oils (I still have some from 1990!, though they are only used to make the vacuum smell nice now). I'd stopped taking Nelson's homoeopathic remedies because of the lactose but several sites say the amount is so small and so little reaches the stomach, that I'm probably ok to take them in short term bursts. The alcohol in the liquid form is often made from wheat grain and though you can get water based ones online the postage makes them too costly for me.


Another detail from my papercut sketchbook 1991

And now a change of subject, garden pests. This is an alert to UK gardeners, check your plants!
I noticed my chives from last year put on a growth spurt in those 3 mild days. But then they started to collapse so yesterday I went to investigate... Greenfly!!! The wee buggers are at least 2 or 3 months early. The price we pay for not having a real winter anymore. 50% of the chives had them nestling in hard to see places. So you have been warned, if you have known hot spots for Aphids then it's worth checking now so they don't get out of hand before Spring has even arrived.

Early 80's memories

Did anyone watch Ashes to Ashes (the follow-up to Life on Mars)? You can watch Ashes to Ashes online (within the next 5 days) on BBC iPlayer. As time passes your mind muddles and merges events and years, so it's nice to have them placed in order again. I chuckled when the girl came in with a can of TAB, I'd totally forgotten about that vile drink. I felt so grown up then, but I was only 9.

My life that year was totally centred around tree climbing, having adventures in the hills, making rafts to go on the River Tweed. I had no idea that one year later I'd be living in L.A. whizzing around in the hot sun in these skates, my love of red and white has lasted for decades.

I remember how amazed I was that the 1st girl I made friends with, once we settled in an apartment in Venice, was originally from Scotland. Her parents had moved to L.A. from Paisley when she and her sister were young. One of my Christmas presents this year was a copy of some of our old American photo's on CD. This one shows me with said friend, both standing on the right. The rest of the kids are my brother's classmates (which means this is probably 1983), my brother being the cross legged cutie at the front, look at that smile...



I just realised that I've been missing Around the World in 80 Gardens, also on BBC iPlayer for one week after each broadcast. I'd watch it now but I'm all caught up in Pride and Prejudice on BBC4, even though I already own it on DVD. You know how I love a good period drama, and this version is in my top 5.

White magnetic curtain

Tough week, too tired to blog. Roll on the weekend.
I like magnets, so I'm intrigued by this curtain that can be shaped any way you like, I like when practicality is also playful...


Florian Krautli: Magnetic Curtain (via ffffound)

And the winner is...

Karin!
Mr P picked the names from folded papers at random. Congratulations Karin. I thought you might like this one as your prize since you like colour. I did it in my first year of art college when I was still mainly using bright colours (before I started to use lots of white and neutrals. I don't have it here to measure it, but I think each page is about 10 x 7cm. When I find it I'll make a cover for it (because I never was good at finishing things). Click image to see more detail...


'Flourishing' : watercolour and ink on paper, 1990
6 page concertina fold book from a design for wrapping paper and bedlinen

It was inspired by jellyfish, radiolarians and similar minute sea creatures, so much inspiration in the ocean. It wasn't until the next year when my health got much worse, that I started to see these shapes and forms as being also like the cells in our bodies. I never realised this before, but perhaps that's why I moved to neutral, earthy colours and white on white? Maybe it signified life taking a serious turn. Not that I abandoned colour, but I used it 50% less.

But wait, more winners because I like things in 3's... I asked Mr P to pick two more names to each receive a black and white copy of a mini book developed from pages of the 4 day sketchbook (click on 'the 4 day sketchbook' label at the end of the post to see more pages). Karin, you'll get a copy of this as well as the other book. The names he picked out were Heather and Deedeen, well done ladies! I will contact you all by email to get your addresses. Here are a few more shots of the original 4 day sketchbook with some of the pages that will be in your printed copies...



a few more pages from the 4 day sketchbook, 1991

A love of words

Breath: ceramic tablet (intentionally broken) 1993

I was visiting Francesca's blog and lo and behold, we both share an unusual collecting habit... word and phrases from books. Read her post here.and you can see how she keeps her sentences in book form. Here's how I keep mine...


a little packet of words about animals


my packets of words (they usually hang on a pin board)

I was typing up a comment to her and realised I should get double value by using it here also...

Hi Francesca, I love your book of words and sentences. I do this too but mine are in little hand made packets each with with a themes like nature, interiors, animals, thoughts. I't's obsessive stuff isn't it. If I can't cut them up I write them down, but there's something about having the actual page that feels extra special. I have some great one's from a cheesy crime thriller where they described the scenes of the crimes brilliantly describing chandeliers, echoing rooms with faded curtains... so beautiful out of context.

I agree, weather related snippets can be really lovely. I especially like ones set in countries where the winds have beautiful names like Levanter, Mistral and Simoon (Levanter was on my list of loved words in '06). It's all I can do to keep the scissors away from Mr P's Patrick O'Brian books, they have lots of weather references many of which are nautical which adds to the appeal, and all said in lovely early 19th century language.

50,219

Me with Shetland pony at Kailzie Gardens July '07

Sorry for the wait, after 2 days of nothing at all my Clustr map finally gave an update around 3am. 50,219 visitors since 11th May '07, amazing. Mr P has is on a training thing so he'll pick a name from a hat when he returns in the evening and I'll post the result on monday. Thanks to those who commented, and for those of you who are new, I'll pop by and say hi on your blogs when my brain is less fuzzled :0)


The Scottish Borders are full of sheep and rolling hills

The photo's shown are from my attempt at a holiday last year, and by holiday I mean an afternoon in the car. I was really struggling with my lungs at that point and walking was hard, but after 6 weeks of rain the sun peeped out a little and we agreed the day had to be grasped. We drove south past the house I still think of as home, and beyond to Kailzie Gardens where we stopped briefly in hopes of reliving my childhood by getting a giant gobstopper (jaw breaker) in the gift shop. No gobstoppers, I guess some things just aren't meant to be. I was consoled by the ponies as I shuffled back to the car. Then on to the Grey Mare's Tail and along to the Megget Dam...


The Megget Dam built in '78, is disguised from below by grass with grazing sheep. At age 9 this was the most amazing 'green' project I'd ever seen. It made a big impact. This is also where I first saw a green car parking area (the old concrete with gaps type).

Then over the dam past the resevoir and down the other side where the beauty of the drystane dykes (dry stone walls) becomes more apparent. I remember feeling immensely proud as a child when my parents told me that the dykes in that area had been built decades and decades ago by one of our relatives, I think he was on my mother's side, I forget now, maybe one of her Great Uncle's or Great Grandfather, I must ask, particularly as they influenced my own work...


Piling stones is in my genes, this is a piece of my family history is still standing strong

Hope you are all enjoying the 1st weekend of February..oh! that reminds me, I've got Lucy for 3 days in a row starting today. Still not used to the fact that it's February already. Lucky I wrote this or she'd have been sitting 'till Monday needing a pee and a feed, though Mr P would have reminded me, I'm sure. Oh dear, now I'm seriously questioning the wisdom of being up blogging till 5.30am... but it's such a great distraction from aches and pains, a type of alternative therapy you might say.

Lisa Jones

Lisa Jones: Angell Wings, 2007
felt, silicone, thread



Lisa Jones: Part of the Symbiosis Chair series
Left - Butterfly Chair 2005 , wood, steel, silicone
Right - Venus Chair 2006, wood, steel.

Lisa's work has been consistently gorgeous and distinctive over the last few years. People always ask"what would you buy if you had a million pounds?", I'd buy Lisa's entire Symbiosis series and all her felt work to put in my salvaged wood beach hut. I say hut, it would be bigger than a hut, with room for you all to visit and create. It's nice to dream.

Pairing: Irina & Lucy + Giveaway at 50,000

Well, there we go, January whizzed past in a matter of moments. How can we be 1/12 through 2008 already? I'm glad so many of you enjoyed the white posts. I will continue to post some of them through February, after all, it is still a wintery month here in Scotland (as evidenced by the second day of snow gales outside. But there will be a lot more colour as well, I need the colour.

I'll ease into the switch over with what I think is a good wintery pairing. I'm such a huge fan of Irina's illustrations, and this one looks so good matched with Lucy's brooch. I do like a good pairing, watch this space for more in the future. Happy February everyone.


Irina Troitskaya: Frost on flickr


Lucy Sarneel: Brooch Ensemble, 2004 via Klimt02

Now, in other news... Today, or tomorrow I will be getting my 50,000 visitor since adding the Clustr Map to my blog last May (see side bar).

My Clustr Map 7 Jan 2008 with 'show smaler clustrs' option on, Europe has totally disappeared! Hello everyone.

As far as I understand it doesn't include people viewing through rss feeds like bloglines, so I'm pretty thrilled and astonished. To mark the occasion I'm going to give away one of my little handmade books to one person who comments on the day it hits th big 50. I'll get Mr P to draw a name from a hat at the weekend and I'll contact the winner to get their address details.

Only one problem... you may have a long wait for your prize! My books are still packed up so I won't be sending it until I find them all and start posting out the pieces for the book collaboration this year, which is all a bit health dependent just now. Good luck, I hope you win!