Cooking, painting, doodling . . .

. . . in the second half of July.  A visit to the local farmers' market yielded the colourful caulis (tasty, too) and the yellow courgettes.  The round one, the beans, the basil and the tomatoes are all DH's work, well, with me as advisor, as in, couldn't we try a different kind of courgette this year as well as the normal ones?  We had them all for Sunday lunch on my birthday weekend.

The tomtoes are beginning to ripen and deserve a shot or two to themselves.  DD2 takes very arty pix of veg, flowers etc and I am trying to emulate her.

Well, i keep trying.

Painting at church again, on the glass wall on one side of the main church bit, looking into the hallway.  We had a Dreamday i.e. family fun day, about Bugs, Bats and Dragonflies.  See the fat black spider on its web, in the hallway, not the painting!

I really enjoyed doing that.  Not sure how it will be cleaned up eventually!

But my own work lately has been taken over by a somewhat obsessional doodling.  Look here for the source of it all, zentangles.  I'm not into the 'zen' bit, and prefer to call thm 'doodles' than 'tangles', but the claim that 'It increases focus and creativity' I find to be true for me.  I don't think the zentangle people intend it to become obsessional though!  The first has a seaside theme, because the frame turned out rather like cliffs, but the second has no special theme, just patterns.  I enjoy creating the 3D effect in some patterns.

Wild weather inspirations

I wanted to put these first two pix at the end but blogger is being contrary about arranging photos, sorry about that. Sunset, seen from the back of our house. Sun heading down, Poole harbour, Brownsea island across the water.

Another winter day at Sandbanks, with wild waves and kite surfers, and sun. Great for November.

And at Upton Country park, some autumn colour, quite spectacular.

More wild waves, at Bournemouth beach this time, on the windiest day of the year. We went with family to the Oceanarium down by the beach, and the grandchildren were leaning on the wind. But then the peaceful moments come, to our road anyway!

Cornwall holiday part 2

An image for embroiderers . . . . . . then you add a bit of stitching . . . Tide's out, suddenly the bay doubles in size, there's a bit round the corner we didn't know was there. Rugged north cornish coast

In Padstow there is a lobster hatchery (if anyone saw the BBC Coast programme about the relevant bit of coastline, it was featured) and this is a prize specimen lurking in its tank, very rare colouring.

Off to the beach at Porthcothan, 2 minutes, down the lane, cross the road by the white houses and you are there.Most evenings there was an amazing sunset, right in the bay.Going, going . . .

Cornwall holiday

. . . . Easter week this year. And at that time our front garden, dug up to grow more edible things, looked like this -----

We had a self catering bungalow at Porthcothan, a small settlement by this lovely bay westwards along the coast from Padstow . . . . . . where cute fishing boats like this were at be seen, that don't look quite real.

On the journey there we stopped off to eat our sandwiches at a National Trust property near Okehampton, Finch Foundry, a 19th century water-powered forge. Read about it here.
Here's some of the tools they made there, about 400 pieces a day, with a local workforce of 25.
Then we went on to Padstow for a quick look before going to the cottage, oh, and a cup of tea, and, well, why not an icecream too.
Next instalment later.

Wintry seascape . . .

The tide racing out of Poole harbour entrance, looking across where the ferry goes. And Brownsea Island across the harbour from Evening Hill. Same day, changeable skies.

Journal quilts again - April

This year's JQs are 12" x 12", bigger than last year's A4 size, and I'm finding it a nice shape to design for. I'm having to combine my jq's this year so far with work for other things, and this one serves 3 purposes. Another exhibition at our church is on currently, Stones and the Sea, and this fits the bill. The local Contemporary Quilt Group manifestation, Infinity, is doing a jq bimonthly, and this is Beachcombing. (I started thinking about hair combs and the lines in your hair as the comb passes through it!). And of course the national CQ challenge of one 12x12 jq a month, for which this is April's entry.The shells are attached by hand-stitching a small piece of net over them. Practically all the rest is machined, the 'combing' lines with twin needles.

... and more wildlife - the damselfly on the lower leaf with the limey green leaf behind it. It's easier to see bigger, sorry! There's a shadow of it on the darker leaf below it.

Scotland - the southern coast of Fife

We've been on holiday in Scotland again, this time by the sea. Windswept beaches, tiny picturesque harbours from which the herring boats once set sail. St Monans has these waterfront houses, just begging the tourist, digital camera in hand, 'Please take my picture'.
Some locals were a bit suspicious.
There was no one about, it was cold and rain threatened. But the shapes and colours of the houses are lovely.

Funny how the tide is nearly always out when we go places. The fishing boats look like toys.
An ancient church in St Monans, looks like a pile of children's bricks.
It's all crab and lobster fishing here now.

Our last evening, had to catch the sunset.
Over the Forth road bridge . . . . . . with the rail bridge alongside.

New Year's Day 2008

How about lunch at the seaside, a barbecue in fact? First, cross the entrance to Poole Harbour on the chain link ferry . . .

walk along the beach a little way . . . and find the neighbours who have set up disposable barbecues on some flat stones provided by the council for the purpose, and invited family, members of their church and other friends to lunch - just bring your own sausages! Funny it's usually the men who spring into action (that's my husband's hand in the centre).
Fancy being at the beach for lunch on new year's day - courtesy of global warming perhaps? It was a great outing. On the way home, via Poole Quay, we found a mini-rally of pint-size steam engines.