Less blogging

I've been too tired to blog or even read blogs but I did a little perusing today and here were some things that caught my eye...

Abigail posted about 3robbers
Jessica had things to say about smell that are just so true.
Patty has a great garden blog that just makes me want to stop blogging and start digging

Wah, I had more to say but my computer is definitely dying on me, no response to mouse clicks, sometimes it won't type for 5 mins. What will I do? I can't possibly afford a new one, though I would LOVE a laptop so I could sit in the garden to blog.

I'm sorry not to be posting, or commenting on the great blog reads, especially Alicia, VeniceandVegas and Ulla, I tried in vain to send comments earlier but it just wouldn't respond. Luckily Peggy Lee, June Christy and some Yodel music are keeping me calm.

Enough of this, I'm going to feed a cute cat, water my oriental veg (my mizuna makes me deliriously happy, it is so beautiful AND tasty) and then I'm going to sleep, more, before work. Who knows when my computer will let me post again, hopefully something tomorrow.

Black antique buttons

That previous post was meant to be sent yesterday, and is no reflection at all on today which has been a beautiful day, as long as you kept your jacket on. Lots and lots of sunshine and only a few drops of rain.

I'm cat/house/garden sitting for my friend Caroline and today was the perfect day to do some work on her garden ( a trade for her giving me reflexology). It's such a pleasure to work there, not that it is exactly easy, but in her garden if you want to plant something you dig a hole in the soil. In mine, if you want to plant something you dig a hole in the CONCRETE!!!

I was digging at 9am when the fire engines arrived to put out the fire a few houses down. I had been speaking to the guy the night before and I knew he was out at the vet with his cat. God only knows how he felt when he got home, but I saw the place and it was black inside and the windows were smashed out. I couldn't bear it if that happened to me. Blimey, I hope his little dog wasn't in the house when it happened! I worry about these things a lot and one of the few things I do spend money on is insurance. Not that I could ever replace my lovely things, I mean, all those buttons and fabrics. And photo's. I'm very slowly digitising my photos to get them onto discs so I have backups, but life seems too short to spend the whole of it archiving memories.

And on that note I'm off to feed her cat and dig her garden before the deluge that is supposed to come tomorrow. But before I go Hiya to NIKKI and ANDY my friends who sadly (for me) emigrated to Melbourne. Nikki has followed the clues and found my blog, which is great. Hope you are enjoying it folks, think of me tomorrow, getting soaked in the rain, or even tonight when they predict it will be only 4 degrees while you bask in your autumnal warmth! Here are some black antique buttons just for your viewing pleasure, I picked them for the photo cause I'm having a week of button pics (till I find my camera cable) and I bet they'd look good with your black chandelier or your black Torde Boontje Garland lights...

Ecoist.com

I think I linked to these recycled bill poster bags by Ecoist.com from an article by Holly at Decor8 that I saw yesterday. Honestly, I don't know how she finds the time to find so much and do her interviews and everything. I can never keep up.

I wasn't meant to be blogging today but it is pouring with rain and there is a viscious cold howling wind. What's going on, it's crazy, the sun was shining this morning and we had frost the other night. Unfortunately I've not had the time, energy or inclination to go and get food in since I got home the other day, and now I really have to go it's too yukky. It's times like these I wish I had a Smart car... (apparently they have finally reached the States)

I picked up these last week after a bit of a search for just the right buttons to go on an aqua piece I'm making. I especially like the top one which reminds me of retro crockery.

I'm a funny one about colour and pattern, I honestly love so many different colours, combinations, styles, periods, patterns etc. In my home it's all about white's and ivory colours with the occasional wall in a single different colour. I like the ivory as a backdrop to which I can bring in any of my fabrics to create totally different moods. I think I tend to be quite seasonal about it all. There is definitely a preference for reds and whites at Christmas, and in the summer all the pale icy blue and turquoises get to dominate (which is why I LOVE Camilla's photo's like this one of Morran on the stairwell).

Then again, it might be the more Mediterranean blues, all zingy and bright in multiple shades, combined with pattern and shots of lime or orange to create areas in my white home that look like bowls of exotic fruit. I just love how the feel of a room can completely change just by using a different piece of fabric over your furniture, or by hanging a piece of antique lace across the centre of a large room to create an airy partition.

Before all the house demolition I was the kind of person who loved nothing more than dressing the house for a themed party or even just for a friends visit. If I have a friend that likes retro I'll get out my 1950's curtains and my 3 leg wooden coffee table. If they like girly pinks then out come the florals and maybe some garlands, and if the have a thing for bright colour, well then I can just go wild!

I think my taste and personality is reflected in my home in a way that it isn't in my clothing. I like very specific clothes but it's pretty rare that what I want is actually available in my size in the charity shops or in the sales. So it follows that it's the house that gets to wear a new outfit for special occasions. In theory I like the idea of have a nice tidy house with a defined stlye that stays pretty consistent, but it's just not in my nature.

I'm a bit nomadic but since I stopped travelling around I have to change my home constantly so that I get the feeling of having moved to a different place. Sometimes I like the beach house look, other times something more urban and then maybe quite kitsch for a while. I hoard a lot of stuff. Really I just need more than one house, and each one can have it's own style and I wouldn't have to keep re-arranging. Anyone want to buy me a beach hut? Or a cedar cube in the woods with a glass walled courtyard in the middle.

I was talking to a nice woman called Tonia recently (who works in Concrete Butterfly, a great shop in Edinburgh) about how my blog might imply that I'm all about the pinks and flowers and that I was worried Anna might get a shock when we met up to discover I'd be all in black, beige and a mossy green. I'd wear more blues if I had the hint of a tan, but even when I was living in LA it took me months and months to pick up any colour, I'm just a pale Scottish lass.

For those of you who haven't witnessed it we have a thing here that girls have tartan legs in winter, which means they are so white and when they get really cold you can see blue and purple veins making a pattern across their legs! You don't see it so much these days because everyone seems to go to sunbeds through the winter now. In some ways it's a good thing because as a nation, we often looked pretty unwell in winter, not like the Swedes who look so healthy even when pale. But the problem is, all these ultra tanned folk are making me look even paler than before!

Now how did I get from floral buttons to pale legs and sunbeds? I never saw that one coming.

Easing off a little

Just a little note to say I'm going to be easing off the posts Friday-Tuesday though I have set up to post a button picture each day if possible. I want to be really focused on the people I'm with over the weekend and not accidentally get sucked in to posting or replying, so to anyone leaving comments or emails, I won't be replying till Tues/Wednesday, but thanks for your feedback. Fingers crossed for good weather! I'll no doubt take lots of photo's for you.

white buttons

Some of my bigger (thanks to Samantha fo alerting me to that rude typo!) white buttons , I love white. And cream.
I especially love these white teapot and chair cosies by Ruth Cross found at Loop thanks to a link by Holly at Decor8.

red buttons

Well my big plan to post button photo's over the weekend never quite came to anything but I do have a good reason. The grand plans for helping MrP's mum with her garden were all ended by 4 days of rain. Luckily I had plans for the house too but as it was the study that got the full makeover I couldn't really use the computer (not that I really had time anyway).

The previous owners had painted the small room in a colour which Mr.P described as 'dried blood'. Now, I like a nice dark red, but this was too much for 4 walls in a small room, it was really oppressive and left you feeling all jangly. Luckily a paint job and some wonderful finds in the garage (also gutted the garage so the car can go in now) transformed it into a light, bright spacious feeling room, well on it's way towards the French Rustic style she loves.

Out went the thin metal shelving units, in came the painted wooden ones. Out when the piles of papers on every surface, in came the old faded plastic and painted wooden seed trays to hold it all. I took the metal shelving down to the garage and managed to accommodate most of what had been filling the place, what a bonus. We cleared so much space she could get the car in. It was deeply satisfying.

Even more satisfying was finding the 4 boxes that all the plants pots and garden equipment were in. The looked pretty mucky but I knew they were gems. Turned out they were ancient ammunition boxes (about 1 x 1 x 4ft long, with great handles) and when I cleaned and painted them white they looked amazing. They went upstairs to the spare room and were stacked up on their side to make a gorgeous bookcase for the really old books with lovely spines on them. It looked so good I could seriously have pinched them for myself. I'm always dragging wooden boxes, crates and trunks from skips to paint white for my house.

Anyway this went on for 3 days almost non-stop (I was grabbing 4-5hrs sleep) and if I hadn't been crampy I doubt I'd have stopped at all. It's by no means finished, there just wasn't enough time, but we got a lot done and even inadvertently managed to almost clear the second spare room that was full of things from the house move, as well as creating a but of French rustic in the first spare room ad sorting out some nice displays of her pottery collection in the dining room.

It's so nice to work with someone who has a warm home and nice things, there is so much potential to get a really good transformation happening. I think she was pretty pleased with it, especially her study which is now a room you would want to go into, instead of one you would want to get out of. I felt a bit bad that I never had time to do the last coat of paint in her downstairs loo (which is tiny with not much daylight, yet they had painted it a really dark dark blue).

It was such a full on weekend but I loved every minute, sadly I was so rushed I never got any photo's! In fact, I was so rushed, I never even unpacked my bags!!! I was in the same manky clothes all weekend, covered in mud, dust, slug pellets, paint... you get the idea. And my hair, I cannot wait to see how much dirt comes out my hair. I can't wash it there, they have hard water in that part of England and it does dreadful damage to 3ft long fine hair, as I learned at great cost the first time I stayed with her years ago. Ah, lovely soft Scottish water, I never realised we were so lucky.

Well, I'm exhausted now and I reckon I may not blog much this week as I really need to recover (and I'm off cat sitting quite a bit) so here are some of those buttons I promised to post...

Alicia's podcast

photo courtesy of Alicia Pualson, thanks A.

So many podcasts this week, the latest being one I have REALLY wanted to happen, Alicia Paulson of the worlds best written blog Posie Gets Cozy. Listen to her Podcast here at Craftsanity.

I'm so excited about this that I'm blogging about it while listening, it's a BIG one (yey) and I'm only 5 minutes into it and I'm absorbed by it already. [have heard more since typing that, it's really in-depth, I keep skipping back and listening to bits again].

I was so moved and inspired by the story of Alicia's accident when I read about it here, but to hear it in her own voice adds a new dimension to her already wonderful writings. I always find her honesty and openness about starting and running a craft based business really helpful, even if it's just to remind me not to stat yet (till I have a home I can work in first).

It's really good to get to know so much about her without looking at the computer screen, so I can justifiably learn more while organising my button collection. But wait, didn't I say I had a really busy weekend planned? So many things to do? All a big rush? Well yes, and that's exactly why I am to be found on the flokati rug with thousands of buttons spread everywhere!

In my defence I have cramp today so a lot of the jobs I need to do would be trashed by my PMT clumsiness. But let's face it, playing with buttons is FUN, it's like money and it's like sweets and yet it's totally practical since it's used in my jewellery and collages so I can have fun and be doing something that needs done at the same time. I've always grouped in colour, but I've decided to subgroup by size or retro-ness as well...



Tools of the Trade...

Blossom on aqua car

People watched me suspiciously as I hovered aroung this aqua car with the wet pink blossom on it, fumbling for my camera but trying not to get run over by cars (there was no pavement).

Not been on the computer all day, until now. I went into Edinburgh to scour the charity shops for a suitable gift for MrP's birthday (not much joy but I have a plan). I did pick up some nice buttons which I will photograph sometime soon. But not now, today has been the 1st time I've not wanted/needed to blog. I've been off the computer all day, busy in town, bus in the garden, busy sorting out the house.

A lot of busyness but a really good day, particularly as it had some great visual stimulation, these cow sculptures are all over Edinburgh and have all been painted differently. I'm sure there is a link on the web but I'm too tired to search. Just been informed on comments that these cows are travelling cows! They've been all over. Also, I forgot to point out, if it's not clear, that this one has the world map painted on her...



And this is beside my bustop when I wait to go home, Edinburgh has lovely details like this around every corner in the centre of town...



I may not blog much, or at all, over the next few days. Taking advantage of my urges to organise the house etc. Plus it's MrP's birthday at the weekend and we'll visit his mum and help her with her new house and garden. It's all houses, gardens and food for the next few days. If I don't post, then I wish you all a nice weekend, and hopefully some great weather. And an especially big hello to a certain cat cuddler who made something very sweet to do with me (is it a secret, if not I'll blog it next week).

SPT my travels

I chose this rather drippy photo because it reflects today's weather. I've not posted for Self Portrait Tuesday in ages. This is me aged 13, standing with my brother (11) beside the Welcome to Georgia sign. As you can see we are not impressed at being forced out of the warm dry van into the cold rain for this shot. But it had to be done, it was part of our summer 1984 LA to New York Road Trip in a slightly dodgy but much loved old Yellow Dormobile and Mum & Dad insisted we have our photo taken by each State sign if possible.

Most of the trip was very sunny, like in this shot of us and the beloved van at Lake Mead...



I loved Lake Mead, the water was so warm, like being in a bath, and the sand was so strange when wet and made better 'dribbled' castles than any I've encountered on any coastal beach (cause I guess it was earth, I've only just thought of that, how embarrassing).

We were heading back to Scotland after having lived in LA for 2 years (well, only 1yr + hols for me). Have I mentioned this on my blog before? I know I have in emails to some of you but maybe not here? Anyway, they decided that rather than fly from LA we should drive to New York and then fly from there. What a trip. Lets just say we are not the Waltons, and we had not fully considered the repercussions of cramming the 4 of us into a very small space for the summer to drive through roasting deserts, places about to flash flood and States with more mosquitos and humidity than I thought possible outside a jungle.

There were a lot of tears, there was a great deal of yelling, perhaps some huffing (moi, huff?) and of course, an intolerable amount of mosquito bites. Actually, the mosquitos really only went for me and my Dad, were the ones with the ligher hair and thinner skin. I know, my brother looks white blonde in some shots, but that was the sun and he's turned brown now.

But despite all the fights and bites, it really was the most spectacular trip I've ever been on, especially for a 13yr old kid from Scotland. We were naturally awed by all the expected wonders like the Yosemite, The Grand Canyon, The Washington Monument, the Whitehouse and all that New York has to offer. But the things that really made an impression on me were often smaller things, like going to a ghost town and seeing real genuine tumbleweed, tumbling, just ike on the films.

And the wildlife, things we don't have here in Scotland like fireflies (although with global warming apparently we do now, though still pretty rare I think). I will never forget the smell of a dead skunk on the road. We smelled it 2 miles before we reached it. I knew what it was though cause I had a scratch and sniff skunk sticker. Honestly, who would make such a thing? I don't know who gave it to me but they must have laughed when I sniffed.

I'll post more about this because it'll be nice to look back on when my memory goes.

More Eugenio Recuenco

I've been playing catchup again so have only just spotted that Ulla has more Eugenio Recuenco photographs on her blog. This work is mouthwateringly gorgeous and far far better seen in a large size on Ulla's blog because the detail is exquisite and the colours really jump out against the beautiful Russian buildings which are kept black and white. I would absolutely LOVE to have one of his prints covering an entire wall. Perhaps I should encourage him to start an Interiors range (well, everyone else has) so we can buy his prints as wallpaper.

If you visit her blog you'll also get to see the incredible architecture of the dancing house in this post, what an amazing building! Or parhaps you'd like some paper flowers to brighten things up when the real ones have wilted.

The pleasure and guilt of a bargain

It's a really wet day here, cold too, which seems a good excuse to read lots of blogs I've not been able to keep up with. I finally got time to listen to Karin Eriksson on d*s podcast. I just love hearing the voices of these people that I idolise and they always come off sounding so smart and interesting. I would never do a podcast cause I'd be all squirmy and awkward with lots of uhms and errs.

I was laughing a lot reading Alicia's various posts (as I always do). The intro to this one had me in fits and it's predecessor was just funny. So I've just caught up on this post of hers where she was out thrifting and found great sheets and couldn't believe no-one else had bought them. I could hardly believe it when she casually dropped into the story that the place had aisles AND carts! What kind of super-size Church thrift places do you have in Portland? I've never, ever seen anywhere in Scotland that even has baskets, never mind shopping carts. I am jealous beyond words.

Anyway, I really understood her feeling of finding a stash of perfect stuff that you can't believe no-one else had bought yet. When It happens I get a racing panicky heart and grab at it and am terrified that someone will come and say it's theirs already, or try to take it from me (cat fight in the charity shop, how dignified).

I almost feel like I am stealing, like when I step out the door the door with my purchase a security guard (not that they have any) will grab me and give me a accusing look like "How could you? You know this stuff is worth more than the ticket price, you are practically stealing from the charity and you should be ASHAMED of yourself!

Sometimes the guilt is so bad I jump on a bus and go straight home, so they can't take my things away or make me pay more. Am I weird or do others do this?

No photo's today, Blogger isn't uploading just now, so instead you can imagine me with a happy smile when I get a bag of charity shop booty safely into my house and finally breath a sigh of relief as I spread it all out and relish it.

Blog card for Kate

sorry about image quality, I've uploaded 4 times in diff. versions but it keep pixellating it - doh

This is a blog card for you based on part of the 'Kate' design that I did on one of the envelopes I sent you on a previous birthday. I had it in all sorts of juicy fruity colours and then I realised, you'd probably hate those and prefer something in black, hope I was right.

I'd have done something more unique but my mouse isn't working right which is a nightmare in photoshop... I have to press the cable into the actual mouse at the correct angle before I click or highlight, can you imagine! It's driving me crazy.

How was your lasagne? Super tasty I bet :0) xxx

Happy Birthday Kate!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATE!
I hope you have the most wonderful birthday, a really nice special peaceful one after all the travel and full on friends and family occasions of the past months. Lots of Love, Cally xxxxxx

Kate is my Australian friend who I met at work in Scotland, who now lives in Norway and who got married in the Ice Hotel in Sweden this January as mentioned in this post.

Here is a picture of us in Sweden...



Ok it's not us, it's a couple of Blythe dolls by Gina Garran (previous post here) but they could be us.
Kate is the one on the left, very stylish and warmly dressed, I am the one on the right with the charity shop clothes in blue and no shoes. It's spot on really.

We are leaning against the tree eyeing up a handsome scandinavian blonde man that she has just spotted for me. Even the little blue bambi can see he is ideal and not remotely arrogant, unlike most UK blonde men who are rare and therefore often think they are god's gift to women. In Sweden blonde men are the norm, so they are lovely down to earth men but with that wonderful uncomplicated quality that I love in all Scandinavians.

So anyway Kate, some little pics to remind you of Edinburgh, like the view from the top deck of the 87 bus as it comes to your stop on South Bridge...



The back of the Gallery on the Mound...



The carving under a window near the Festival Theatre...



And your view when heading for the bus in the mornings...



Kate, they were good times and I miss them, but I'm glad you are having a great life in Norway with your new husband! Love Cally xxxxx

Torde & Kvadrat

Happy fabric at Kvadrat designed by Torde Boontje (sadly he never seems to update his site).

There are quite a few different fabrics on the site if you have time to browse. I'd post links but its nearly 5am [5.17 by the time blogger let me upload] and I have been reading blogs and posting my own for 6hrs straight.

I should be wearing flight socks for this cause apparently lots of people are getting deep vein thrombosis when they are on the computer too long, and when I blog I forget to get up and move around - just like a along flight. Scary.

Papa Stour, Mav & Natalie

Just incase anyone didn't know, the wonderful Papa Stour are selling the delicate Aurum Stria cards by Natalie of Neblo Peko and Mav of port2port. It's such a successful collaboration of Natalie's drawing and Mav's quality letterpressing and I love that they are selling in both countries.

I've managed to catch up on a bit of blog reading tonight and included Mav's podcast. It's so nice to hear the voices of people who's words you enjoy. I remember last month loving hearing Camilla laugh on a video clip of her return from Italy when she came to the car and Morran was going wild about seeing her again and jumping and barking and whizzing around her feet. I must have watched it about 20 times.

Kenichi Hoshine

I just love this image I saw on Creative Swoon. It's by a painter called Kenichi Hoshine.

Where i find jewellery

Sorry I forgot to add a link to Anna Gordon, mainly because the one I have is so out of date but this is it here. I'm afraid I couldn't find an up-to-date link but you can find her work via many of the places listed below.

A few people have asked where I find a lot of the things I post. As far as Jewellery is concerned (but also many other wonderful things) here is a short list of the key places I check regularly, though there are loads more...

Craft Scotland
Dazzle
Crafts Council
Flow
Velvet Da Vinci.

There are so, so many more, like 100's more but believe me, these are enough to get you off on a linking frenzy that could cause bladder weakness (if you like the kinds of things I like).

Really what I need is a blogging commode. Infact, it probably wouldn't surprise some of you to know I once had a commode, I think I found it washed up on a beach as I had no concerns about hygeine, it was seriously sun and sea bleached for years and years before I found it. My friend kept it when I moved but now it would be very handy indeed! I should point out I never used it to pee in/on. I think I may have kep plantsin the 'seat' for a while though!


On a totally unrelated note, here is the enamel dish I keep loose pins and sweing things in, it's the size of a hand.

Anna Gordon

sorry this post is late, I sent it yesterday but it clearly never went through :0(



I love Anna Gordon's work. She graduated the year before me (from Edinburgh College of Art, not the same as me) and both her degree show and her postgrad show the following year were filled with little pieces of perfection. I'm also fairly sure she was showing at New Designers the same year as me (1994) though for her that would have been with her Postgrad work.

If I remember rightly I saw her work and Grainne Morton's at the same time at the Edinburgh Degree Show, so I must have been pretty overwhelmed by the loveliness of it all.

Interestingly their work, though different at the time, is becoming more similar as time goes on with both of them working on twig-ish pieces these days.

For those who are in the area this years ECA show starts on the 17th of June and runs till the 27th. Infact, Edinburgh arty bloggers (or those who will travel), shall we meet up and see the show together? If you fancy it post your interest here and I'll contact you in June to sort a date.

Edinburgh images

Edinburgh is such a beautiful City, particularly when the sun is shining.
Here are a few images I took on my way home from the dentist. I'll try and post these and lots more into Flickr this week but I'm still having a lot of trouble with my poor wee computer, even my mouse has stopped responding.

Ineke Heerkens

Ineke Heerkens crochet mushroom-like pieces.

This work was shown last year at an exhibition called Fools Gold at The Embassy Gallery in Edinburgh featuring a variety of works by many jewellers described as "Worn Art & Useless Jewels"

Vegas and Venice

Calling all parents and children, Vegas and Venice has revealed to us (and she was nervous to do it so a big round of applause) her Shy Monsters Colouring story book. I tell you, if I'd had a book like this as a child I might not have needed my special pyjamas to make me feel safe from the dark space under the bed.

Marianne Anderson

Scottish jeweller Marianne Anderson had a really piece at New Designers (I think) that caught my eye, it was similar to this brooch but was a necklace with a very intricate filigree section and no grid behind it. It was much larger than this and hung from a pearl necklace if I remember correctly.

Sorry to be vague, her site is very minimal and I don't have time to go hunting through Google today, my strawberry plants are waiting patiently to be moved to their permanent home and I need to sow more lettuce and some spinach. My oriental salad seedlings have grown out of their baby first leaves now and are getting very distinctive hairy/spikey grown up leaves. Very exciting but it will be a long time before they are ready to be munched.

Sebastian Buescher

My trip to the dentist went well, I'm such a suck up, full marks for my teeth and I'm pleased as punch. The sun shone all day so I walked very slowly home, taking pictures of things I love like blossom, shadows and textures, which I'll post later.

My recent jewellery posts have reminded me that my archives are bulging with jewellers that I like BB (before blogging) and have never blogged about. So strange how life Before Blog seems like a distant memory, and anything I haven't blogged about from then, it's like it doesn't exist. So I'm digging around in my archives for old faveourites (and a few new-ish ones) and then finding what they've been making since I last looked so I can share with you.

Sebastian Buescher is someone I spotted last year when I saw one of his 'Pipe' necklaces as shown here. The piece below it is a brooch. He uses natural materials like moth cocoons and bits of termite nest to create his unusual jewellery.

Emma Gale

Well that last link to Ann Little then led me to Emma Gale. I have seen Emma's work in galleries before but not since I've been blogging so I forgot to post about her.

Ann Little

After saying I wouldn't be blogging here I am at 3.20am posting this beautiful necklace by Scottish jeweller Ann Little that I found thanks to Kath over at Whipup. Thanks Kath.

And hey, the dentist will probably be glad I've had no sleep because if I yawn he can get in at my teeth more easily.

Computer free weekend

I had a computer free weekend and, apart from this quick post, Monday will be pretty blog free too as I'm heading into Edinburgh for the dentist (just a check-up, hopefully). But I wanted to say a special hello to KATE who is the first of my friends to discover my blog. Ok, I admit I gave her clues, but she lives so far away now (Norway) and we don't see each other much so I wanted her to be able to keep tabs on me. I haven't told anyone (apart from MrP) because I wanted to see how long it would take people to chance upon it, the net being such a small place really. So remember Kate, don't tell anyone we know.

I see from my email that lots of you have posted comments which I haven't had time to look at, but thank you, and I will read them on Monday evening (unless dentist turns nasty) and reply to any that need replies by Tuesday night. Until then here are some snaps of sights I saw on Sunday while doing the shopping, I feel so lucky that my shopping takes me to such nice outdoor places and though it was mostly wet and misty we did get a momentary bright period while we were out buying veg.

The air smells good

Such a warm day, the baby blackbird (who is double the size of his mum) was totally relaxed onto the warm patio soaking up the sun's rays this afternoon while I had that great pleasure of drying my hair outside in the sun...



The whole time I kept getting gorgeous scents wafting on the wind from things like my hyacynth. The smell is intoxicating in this heat.



I enjoyed it so much I changed out of my dark gardening clothes and into turquoise cords with one of my flower necklaces on the hip (I rarely wear jewellery in the normal way, if at all).



Close-up of flower on necklace, it's a few years old now so a bit rough around the edges. They were designed as additions to a wedding dress.