Food (for Liz)

Hi Liz, it's all very well offering to make you food but you might want to see it first so here a a couple of pics of yesterday's food and ingredients. Most things tend not to get photographed because I'm too busy scoffing, or have made too much mess, but I'll try and document more when I can.

The granola is the only way I can get Mr P to be keen on oats and the refried beans and rice is a great base for then adding raw shredded veg to in the last minute so it gets a little bit limp but doesn't lose any flavour or nutrients. As you can see I only had a wee bit of Rainbow Chard, Tenderstem Broccoli and Spring Onions left, but it was very tasty. It's all organic, of course, and the rice is brown basmati, boiled the day before with saffron, cardamom and a bay leaf. The cannelini beans were slow cooked the day before in my hot box.

In the March garden

Kerria buds, Spirea, Hellebore, Daffodils unknown, Daffodils 'Tete a Tete', Lilac leaves, Pieris 'Cupido', Cricus 'Ruby Giant' with Heather unknown, Kerria in flower, Flowering Currant.

So much grew and flowered in March, especially blossom which I would have expected in April and May. There will be a bit of a blank period in those months now but it was amazing to see everything flowering at once - Magnolia, both Cherry trees, Forsythia, Amelanchier, Kerria, Flowering Currant and so much more. I've not had time to get my other 100's of plant pics on to the computer yet. Will try.

March Sunset

Lighter nights now the clocks have gone forward.

The calm of a cat

These are old photos of Mo when he was quite young.
Just looking at a sleepy cat seems to calm my brain and slow my heart rate
(in a good way). Hope it can do the same for you.

Some old photo's for Liz

Magnolia flower and Bali when she was younger

East and West coasts of Scotland

A couple of college pieces: 1992 and a screenprint from 1990(or '91?)

Book jacket cover design which I messed up, but it made it look like this mashed up fishing net in Dunbar

Different kind of light I notice with camera in hand.

I was looking through some of my old photos and put a few together for you Liz. You've had too many words to take in this week - I thought some images might be in order.

Sun wind clouds

Dominique Falla - Meet Me In The Sunshine

After a week of Spring we had a return of snow on the hill, freezing nights and blasting gales. Then they said we'd have a nice sunny weekend. It peeked out occasionally but was motly grey so I thought posting this cheery piece of embroidery thread art by Dominique Falla will encourage the sun to come back. Not that I don't like clouds, some clouds are great, especially when you can make them inside a room like this art installation by Berndnaut Smilde.



Innova - Xuan bamboo lamp

Where my head's at...

Kwon Seulgi - Untitled - Brooch - 2011
silicone, pigment, plastic, thread, wood, stainless steel


Kwon Seulgi - Untitled - Brooch - 2011
silicone, pigment sterling silver, thread, stone, glass bead, stainless steel


Kwon Seulgi - Cell 10 Brooch - Oct 2009
silicone, pigment, plastic, stainless steel



Chanel Spring 2012 Under the Sea


Studio Bertjan Pot - Cluster Light 2009


Ernesto Neto - "Simple and light as a dream...the gravity don’t lie...just loves the time" 2006
Installation view fromTanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York
Photo: Fabian Birgfeld, photoTECTONICS.
Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York (Via Moment/C)

Minerals - grey, gold, black, silver

Galena with Chalcopyrite, Sphalerite and Quartz
See many more photo's and details here on Mineral Classics


Metastibnite via Mineral Classics


Pyrrhotite on Galena from Russia via Mineral Classics


Sphalerite on Chalcopyrite via Surrey Minerals


Pyrite in Slate via The San Francisco Gem & Mineral Society

Pyrite via Mindat


Stibnitewith Barite via irocks


Skutterudite via irocks

The Bloomberg Pavillion

I've been having the kind of week that you normally only see on movies. A chance to change something from their past which would completely alter my life. I've stuck with the decision I made so many years ago but it hasn't stopped my thoughts and emotions being turned upside down and inside out. Everything in my life that seemed fixed suddenly has other options and it's almost impossible not to think of all the possibilities that could have unfolded. My poor wee brain feels thoroughly fragmented as it churns over all the possible ways things could have gone.

What better day to send out one of my draft posts from last year of the Bloomberg Pavillion with it's multi-faceted structure. That's what my brain is like this week, a solid base with all manner of wildness spilling out the top and looking different depending on where you approach it and the time of day.





'bloomberg pavilion' by akihisa hirata architecture office, tokyo, japan. photo © takumi ota
images courtesy of akihisa hirata architecture office + museum of contemporary art tokyo
found via Designboom

Ulrika Kestere, Hair, Blue Clothes

Ulrika Kestere - Winter horse poster €22 here

Ulrika Kestere - Ice Princess

I was originally directed towards the top photograph by Ulrika Kestere by someone saying she had a similar wardrobe to me. I thought they meant furniture wardrobe but clearly they meant likes to wear lots of different blues with a touch of red. The clothes are nice but it's the photo itself I like most. It is part of a series called "Girl with 7 horses" and she has made this one available to buy as a print here. You can see more of her photographs on her blog Ulicam. I liked the wintery one because I collect blue dresses and have long wanted to photograph them in snow, but it's always been too wet, too cold or too windy. She is tougher than I am.

I was looking at old photos this week and found one of me as a kid on the banks of the Mississippi River wearing blue with a touch of red (loved my bandanna) in 1984 when our parents bundled us all into a Camper Van and spent the Summer driving from LA to New York (having been living in LA 2yrs but returning to live in Scotland). I didn't realise I was doing non traditional hair buns in '84, I thought I didn't bun my hair until college in '89. Ulrika has an animated gif of braided hair that reminds me of why I put up with my really long but infuriatingly prone to tangling hair for so long. I loved playing with it, so many ways to express my mood. But when you have ME every bit of energy is precious and it's pointless wasting it on a daily battle with tuggy hair (you can see the tugs beginning to form a blur in centre of the bottom photo). Last January I chopped nearly all of it off and last month I did it again. But it's nice to find photo's of it long.


Me with my Brother. Watching Mississippi paddle steamer 1984

Me at Big Bear Lake, California 2008