All a bit funny because I caught myself having a bit of a sing and a dance to this in the kitchen this morning...
(I must say Yvonne's dress and high-heeled boots ensemble wouldn't look out of place in 1970's Birmingham.)
before heading off into Glasgow for a coffee with Suzanne - where I discovered for the first time there is an American Apparel store just by Urban Outfitters off Buchanan Street. I love all their multicoloured t-shirts, leggings, tube socks and legwarmers and feel as if I could quite easily drift into someone who dresses like they just fell out of 'Fame'!
Maybe I could get a part in this routine... it looks so much fun!
C'mon Ginny - get your legwarmers on!
Back in a day or two with a "name that garden competition"
I've been having a bit of an 'unplanned' break away from blogging recently.
This is not through intention, but necessity. The last few weeks I went back to full-time art department work, which means for me, at the moment, an 8am-7pm kind of day.
By the weekend I feel a bit like this...
...just conking out on my back somewhere and staring at the horizon. But of course there is household stuff to catch up on... oh yes, and a post-graduate course! Any thoughts or time for nice things or any sense of Self, let alone blogging gets squeezed out - as anyone who works in the industry will tell you.
I don't want to keep going on about it, hence I haven't posted because it is rather all-consuming and I haven't done anything I've felt like sharing! I've a lot to be grateful for, with these kind of opportunities and some of my photos may be appearing on set - so as I was discussing with Suzanne earlier - it's like having 2 lives and having to switch from one to the other when and as you can.
Consequently I feel like spare time is used for some kind of self-maintainance and just catching up in preparation for the following week - let alone time for fun or crafting... It will only be for a few weeks, and I will get back into my creative swing after that... and after submitting my next 2 assignments mid May!
This was a sight on the bird table earlier in the week - a family of rooks have taken to visiting the garden, and I caught this one (they can sense you taking a photo, I'm sure!).
My...what a big beak you have! All the better to fly off with your fatballs with, m'dear!
I leave you with a funny thing I heard on BBC radio 4 this morning. In the 1970's Telly Savalas of Kojak fame narrated 3 short films on British towns - Birmingham, Portsmouth and Aberdeen. They were called Quota Quickies and were short British films funded to play alongside larger grossing US films. The Birmingham film is a hoot, and well worth watching for the over 40's dancers! Pure cheese. Who loves ya baby?
first thing seen this morning - a rabbit washing itself by the garden gate
I have never seen a rabbit here before... the day after I repot my parsley and think about putting it outside... Hmmm...
N saw a cat who had caught a rat, be chased by a dog - it dropped the rat, which was picked up and eaten by a rook!
seeking some sanctuary from overdoing it a bit in a spring day...
all I want to do is sit outside and watch things grow... birds landing on trees...and the bird table. (a huge rook was ungainly cramped beneath the bird table roof today - his black mass filling the place as he hung upside down to eat the fat ball below. Robin was doing a hummingbird impression which he could sustain for about 2 seconds before pecking off a lump and flying down to eat it off the grass.)
went for a walk, but am enjoying the sunshine and a blue sky...
A couple of weekends ago our washing machine blew up. It wasn't a very convenient time, as not only did I not have time to go searching for another one, it was another expense I really could do without.
this was the machine we inherited when we moved in. I never liked it really. I knew it was playing a game of time with us and that sooner or later it would blow up, belch steam, cook N's trousers and melt the powder drawer - just to be totally sure it was gubbed.
Not perhaps the most interesting thing to post about, but, the next day I noticed a sign at work advertising a washer/dryer for £100 - which was 6 months new...
We picked it up this morning from a house which is about 5 minutes away as the crow flies, and discovered it belongs to a screenwriter!
Another thing I may not have mentioned here is that we discovered 'our' cottage once belonged to Tom Weir - Scottish naturalist, writer and tv presenter. We are hoping some of his good karma will rub off on us!
After 12 days without a day off, on a job that was fun but also slightly testy - eg. trying to get paid or any information about getting paid was like David and a very big Goliath who was behind a wall somewhere and quite possibly deaf and not very interested either... but which did turn up some interesting finds (see tomorrow).
I had an artist's date to Edinburgh!...
after taking N to work, I found myself blissfully early on a train to the capital... lots of space, coffee and a bagel... an hour or so to daydream and look out of the train window on my way to see
It was wonderful to see his work in real life, as the tones and clarity can only be conveyed by the media they are shown on - to see the silver gelatine prints for real confirms his mastery as a photographer. I was also pleased to see he had travelled throughout New Mexico and a number of photos featured Taos and Hernandez.
afterwards across the road for more elevenses with Rowan, Craig and Jill from my writing course, here...
Afterwards I loitered along Princes Street enjoying the cold fresh air and emergence of spring...
(just noticed the reflection of the Scott Monument in the background)
any blossom?
...no, not here...
past the art galleries on the Mound...
where an exhibition by the RSA of contemporary watercolours and applied arts was going on...quite interesting
...nope, sorry, still no blossom here...
...ah, there it is - with the castle, ...of course.
