These crab apples are growing in a sheltered glen near us, and were being fed upon by fieldfares, which along with the redwings are arriving now from Scandinavia.

A few years ago, in a year when our neighbour's rowan tree was especially heavily laden with berries, we watched in amazement and delight as a very large flock of redwings descended on the tree, and proceeded to feast on the berries for about twenty minutes or so. They seemed to feed on the wing, not sitting on the branches, so the tree was a-flutter the whole time.

Magical.

When they flew off there was not a berry to be seen, and our delight was somewhat tempered by the realisation that there was nothing left for our native blackbirds, thrushes and robins should the winter be a harsh one. It made me think of what it must be like when a swarm of locusts passes through.

Prettier than locusts, redwings..

Julia's comment (19 October) about the  view here made me realise I was taking it for granted - amazing how you can do that, isn't it - and sent me to the window with the camera and a big smile on my face - thanks Julia!

The first is from downstairs, the second from upstairs and the third a reflection in the mirror of the bedroom - mirrors are a lovely way of bringing the outside in. (Click on the photo to enlarge.)

I've left the big naval base across the water out of the picture, but I always think, well, 90% of our view is unspoilt and natural, and very beautiful..

There are a lot of knitting and cooking blogs out there.

I came across this comment from a high flying and widely  travelled female executive in the upper echelons of the US government :

'Knit?  Damn right I knit.  If I didn't knit I'd kill someone.'

Reminded me of Gabriel Garcia Marquez' comment in, I think, Love in The Time of  Cholera, that we have dinner parties to keep us from murdering each other.

So knitting and food are really important....keep up the blogs!

It is so easy  to comment on this site, and I'd love to hear from you.

No passwords, security checks, unnecessary details, URL's, computerspeak, strange lettering to copy etc

Just a name (any name), your comment, then click submit.

That's it.

A minute, maybe three..

You can leave your e mail and website details if you want to, they're not shown.

Give it a try do.

Don't be shy.

(Or I'll think I'm talking to myself again!!)

Thought of another two real things (see yesterday). Drawing by hand, and writing with a pen....nice feeling.

Thinking of opposites : CAD, the iPad and typing on the computer. Opposites of real : fake/false/bogus/sham/ersatz/synthetic/virtual/pseudo versions of the things mentioned on yesterday's post - highly processed foods with chemical additives and synthetic flavours and colours, heavy on sugars, artificial sweeteners and hydrogenated fats; electric and oil-fired central heating automatically controlled allows us to forget where it comes from....shovelling on coal and wood you think about it; and stale air in our houses 'freshened' by a gadget plugged into an electric socket giving out chemicals into the air we breathe, or from an aerosol spray. Nylon/Dacron/acrylic/fabric made from recycled plastic bottles, treated with fire retardant chemicals/plasticised, fabric softeners, washing powders. Recorded music in shops, restaurants, waiting rooms, while holding on the phone, 4000 songs on the iPod; posters, prints, cards and other ephemera (do like these)....smart phones, twitters and tweets, facebook, e mail, skype; moisturisers on your face, soap, make up, cleansers, toners, serums, dermabrasion, botox, parabens (straight into your bloodstream, every day)..shampoos, conditioners, electric hairdryers, straighteners and curling tongs, dyes; lotion to keep the sun off, fake tan, from a sunbed or a tube......not to be alarmist or anything!

Amazing and sometimes wonderful (fantastic skype with far flung family! Music on the radio - couldn't live without it - well I could of course, but you know what I mean.)
 
But Real or Simple?

Nope.

Am seeking the actual/honest/in the flesh/original/true/genuine whenever possible.
 
Plenty to think about then.

I've come to realise that when I talk about 'simple' I often mean real. As in real (unprocessed) food, a real fire for heat, an open window for fresh air, natural fibres, live music, original art, actual meetings with friends, face to face conversations, rain on my face and wind in my hair, sunshine on my skin.

And I also understand better why I don't have a television. It had begun to feel like living at second hand, and was taking up time that I could be using to live my own life, my real life.

Television has its uses, there are some wonderful programmes, but I didn't miss it at all when we found ourselves without  one about 18 years ago. I preferred having the time to having the television.


I've just enjoyed watching an excellent programme about British studio pottery on the computer....

I'm inspired by Oxlip www.oxlip.com  to have another go at a flowery meadow from seed, but it's such a hit and miss affair in my experience, I'm not sure I can spare the space for another trial.

I have had some success in Oxford with a flowery meadow from seed; so lovely was it that I felt compelled to paint it, and it led me in a circle via landscape design back to painting.

But last year I sowed a strip of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' a mix from Moles Seeds which I had seen in glorious flower in Ayrshire at Culzean Castle - I was enchanted - and so perhaps was the castle, because my careful attempts here came to nothing!

I have had a lot more success with the mini meadow (see 9 June 2010) where I just let the grass grow and popped in a few cornflower and  poppy plugs. Shall I sow the Bohemian Rhapsody in plugs and put more than usual into the mini meadow and see how that works? It could look a bit too contrived as the flowers already in there are all native to the area - or am I getting too purist about it?

I'll only know how it will look if I try it.

There's always something to learn in gardening - one of the reasons I love it I suppose!

Here is the Austin Kleon poem which inspired me to have a go at newspaper blackout poems. It has something of the haiku about it and I thought it clever and funny (if anything about the Titanic could be described as funny...)

Why not try it?

I plan to always have a random page of newspaper in my bag now.  It's interesting to observe how differently your mind works when you are trying this. You have to try to read a passage not for its meaning, which is quite difficult to do, but for a potential different meaning. The sports pages are surprisingly fruitful - lots of metaphors - and dramatic language with very emotive words in the quotes from sportsmen which the writers clearly love - a whole new ball game (ha ha).


Oh, I love this writing lark....

I love this way of writing!

I hesitated to post my 'poem' (see yesterday's post) but then watched this video of Austin Kleon and was persuaded that it was perfectly OK to publish it....he has some interesting things to say about creativity and originality.

http://www.austinkleon.com/2011/09/24/steal-like-an-artist-at-the-economists-human-potential-summit/

Here is my first attempt at a newspaper blackout poem.

It is called George Mackay Brown.

I've never been a fan of the 'previously worn' look..

reduced to £24.99 !!   (people were  looking, if I didn't laugh I'd cry)

Cloud at the head of the loch is obscuring the snow on the  'Arrochar Alps' - so called not because they are very high (1011mtrs) but because they are steep and jagged.

And cold tonight.


Brrrr...

Oh no! There is SNOW on the Arrochar Alps at the head of the loch today!
 
I so love snow, but not yet!

We seem to have skipped autumn and gone straight into winter.

I watched a wonderful programme about the stained glass artist Brian Clark on BBC4 (17th October) Still on i player - well worth seeing....

I also found the website of an artist called Su Blackwell....who makes delectable paper sculptures from books - do have a look http://sublackwell.co.uk
 
And the work of another artist Austin Kleon, whose clever ideas i am about to have a play with....watch this space..

(You can tell I've been indoors most of today, can't you. Winter pursuits already. I found myself browsing the lovely cook book 'Long Nights and Log Fires'  - looks like it might be a long winter....)

I  visited the New Lanark World Heritage Site recently and found the work of the 19C social reformer Robert Owen sounding remarkably relevant in the light of the Occupy Wall Street protests which are spreading around the world.

Read more at www.newlanark.org/robertowen.shtml and share your thoughts....

There are still a few tiny alpine strawberries to pick.

They are 'Mignonette'- sweet and fairly prolific. I grow them from seed every four years or so and they are planted all around the cutting patch.

They are compact plants and don't have runners, but a few seedlings appear, which I am potting up to sell for charity on our open weekend next year

We are planting some new beds with summer and autumn fruiting rasps and red and black currants - and herbs. Growing our own becomes more and more appealing..and all of these require the minimum of work.

....that the Old Ticket Office, the Village Hall, (wish they'd fix the clock), the pier and the Waverley are all with us still because enthusiastic people run them and fundraise to keep them.

500 people sailed on the Waverley's last trip of the season today in rain, wind and mist  - we're hardy folks up here!
 
And loyal.

I love working from home, so here are some shots of my happy place today, as I prepare to take cards and small watercolours to a craft fair in Blairmore Village Hall tomorrow - last visit this season to the restored pier of the lovely Waverley - we do take care of some things I guess, the pier, the  Waverley and the village hall are kept for us all by people who really care....

Remind me Where is your Happy Place? 

In these small watercolours I aim to keep the work to the simplest possible composition.

Knowing when to stop is one of the secrets of success with any painting, but perhaps especially with watercolour.

I don't want one element too many. I challenge myself to see just how simple I can get, and still have an interesting painting! (Hope you agree they are interesting....)

As you know I like a bit of city buzz now and then,  but sometimes, just sometimes, I get a bit depressed instead..

Sorry, this is getting too depressing isn't it! I want to be proud of my country - why is it so scruffy and grubby and neglected?

Later in the same street I found this.
 
Too dark to see the graffitti and litter I could only see the light from some subterranean restaurant glowing underfoot....




I wouldn't want to live in the city again.
 
What about you?

I've often said I feel most alive when I'm learning something new.

The garden photography taster course with Andrea Jones was fascinating and worth the long journey there and back in foul weather (I wish I had thought to stay in their lovely B&B).

In the morning, warmed by the welcoming fire and some good strong coffee, we watched Andrea set up a shoot of a plant, explaining the pros and cons of various bits of equipment and giving us tips on manipulating both plant and light for the best results. We then set up a still life of our own from a selection of beautiful natural materials (mushrooms in baskets, seedheads, squashes and plants) and she helped us experiment using (and in my case getting to know the capabilities of) our own cameras.

After a delicious three course home cooked lunch, Graeme Cookson talked us through some of the wondrous things you can do with Photoshop. As an artist I was interested in colour theory using light, and how it differs from using pigments. Graeme stressed achieving natural balanced colour in our photographs, while also illustrating how other creative effects can be achieved.

I learned an awful lot in one day, but fully alive to all the new possibilities, I am also aware of how much I have to learn....

Maybe there will be another course.

Keep an eye on  www.andreajones.co.uk



 

A little blog break as I go to the photography course.

I leave you with this early morning shot of the Firth of Clyde.

(When I get back I'll be able to straighten it!  I hope.)







Have a good weekend ..

I have added a new page to the blog called 'Cards' (see top right)!

Do take a look.

The quality of the photographs on the actual  cards is much better than my photo of the cards on the new page (trust me on this one!) but after I have been on the photography course this weekend I will know how to rectify that, won't I?

Hope you like..

At this time of year thoughts turn to comfort food. The colours of the figs and plums, along with a few last blooms from the garden, made a sumptuously colourful shot. The plums are now gone - added to brambles to make a delicious crumble....Mmm..