Category:

Simply..fascinated...

12/6/2017

I am fascinated lately by artists who do photo-realistic work.

I got to Edinburgh in time to hear Rachel Ross's talk about her acrylic paintings. (See also yesterday's post).

Charming and friendly, she talked mainly about how she does them, but the why was about her fondness for old objects from the past and wanting to give them some kind of status and presence. I felt it would be rude to ask if excellent photographs might do the same thing. Her skill is superb, and the paintings are truly lovely objects, but not really my thing (which on this occasion is why I went to see the exhibition - to look beyond my usual choices).

The exhibition is at the Open Eye Gallery and you can see more images of Rachel's exquisite work here.

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Simply..filling the well....

11/6/2017

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Every now and then I feel the need to see something different and I've just had in intensive input of things I don't usually do or see, chosen because they were different....it does give me a lift. Does this work for you too?

Three exhibitions in Edinburgh, a meal in grand surroundings, a brief look at high fashion and a copy of Vogue to read on the bus home.

Photo-realistic paintings by Rachel Ross selling well for £2000, rather academic very beautiful watercolours of Georgian Edinburgh by Hugh Buchanan (£6000). I enjoyed the fantasy worlds of The Dome and Harvey Nichols. Chandeliers and flowers and good food for a very reasonable price, (£19.50) and Cruella de Ville shoes for a very unreasonable price (£650) Some amazing and exquisite miniature pots were £20 and £25...I am mentioning the prices of everything because it fascinates me what we value things at, and how we choose to spend our money!

The Vogue magazine was half price at £2.

More thoughts tomorrow when I have absorbed all the stimuli..

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Simply..a wish list....

5/6/2017

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From looking back to looking forward.

I've been thinking of a wish list...

I'd like to see fields of lavender growing, perhaps in Grasse.

I'd like to see Vermeer's paintings.

And Monet's Waterlilies in L'Orangerie in Paris.

I'd love to visit Japan.

What's on your wish list?

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Simply..new and improved....

30/11/2016

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One of my ice candles broke as I tried to remove the plastic cups - they are very fragile. See original method here.

The answer is to use two different sizes of cup. (so obvious really!) This has several advantages. It is easier to fit leaves etc between the two layers, it makes a chunkier candle which you can briefly dip in hot water to release from the cup, and it lasts longer. Not quite as delicate perhaps but still rather pretty.

You can remove them from the cups once frozen and put them back in the freezer for instant use at any time.

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Simply..heartened....

29/11/2016

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I was so heartened by your encouraging and kind comments about my piano ambitions! Thank you! (And for the giggles in yesterday's comments.)

I was thinking about why learning to play Bach is such a real pleasure just now and came to the conclusion it is because it doesn't really matter. It demands a lot of concentration so takes me 'out of myself' as the saying goes. No one is listening, or expecting anything of me. There are no deadlines, nothing depends on my success. I don't ever plan to perform it and if I never learn to play another piece of music that will be fine. I will sit no exams or tests. It doesn't cost anything except time and and I only spend about 15 minutes at a time on it, sometimes once a day, sometimes more. It is purely for fun and just for me.

Do you do anything at all which is purely for fun and only for you?

If not, whyever not? And can you think of anything you would like to try?

Tomorrow - the new improved method of making ice candles...

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Simply..A Winter Plan....

23/11/2016

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Lotta (click to read her inspirational post) mentioned a winter plan a few days ago and got me thinking....I do love a plan!

I will sort out my wardrobe, stack up some great reading, try out a new recipe for potatoes cooked in white wine and stock, make the house smell wonderful, move more, and try to be more sociable.

Here are some of the books I may re-read and I have quite a few new ones on my wish list, which, if no-one buys for me for Christmas I will buy for myself. :-)

(I always said I'd never use these silly smiley face thingys but, like exclamation marks which I am aware I overuse, they just do the job of setting the tone sometimes, don't you think?)

Here are the summer clothes I've only just removed from the wardrobe. Step one in sorting the winter wardrobe. Step two is to put like with like. Tomorrow. I was quite surprised to see several yellow items in there (though since I bought them I shouldn't be surprised). I find I can wear yellow in summer if I have a little bit of a suntan, but in winter when my skin tends to sallow/grey I look awful in yellow. Do you have a colour you can only wear in one season? Looking at the photograph I see I need to practice Marie Kondo style folding!

Will you share your Winter Plan - even if it's not quite deserving of capital letters yet?

Let's call it fun things to do this winter.. and I think I shall find a box and join Lotta.

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Simply..north points....

29/10/2016

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For many years we were in the habit of creating North Points when we visited somewhere new but were never particularly systematic about recording them - but here are a few (and I must make a note to myself to keep up this little fun tradition starting with this mini one made of fallen fuchsia flowers today).

See here, and here and here

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Simply..love blogging....

25/8/2016

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....and the friends I have made here!

Yesterday I met up with Grace who has been reading and commenting on the blog for a long time. (I hope I won't embarrass her if I say she is as lovely as her name.) We met in the Botanic Gardens (see this post). I carried a copy of the New European newspaper so that she would recognise me! It seemed a fair assumption that she would be a European at heart as she lives in Paris. I didn't have to brush up my French though as, like me, she grew up and studied in Glasgow.

We had a delightfully long lunch at Kember and Jones in Byres Road (an old student haunt for us both) and a coffee sitting outside in the sun in the Botanic Gardens.

Whether here on the blog or in person I do have fun in the company of my blog friends....thank you all so much.

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Simply..fun....

26/3/2016

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Remember this?

Have a lovely Easter weekend.

The blossom of flowering currant is white if you pick it in bud and bring it indoors.

So pretty.

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Simply..a blast....

28/11/2015

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Thank you Oh Amaryllis for the little burst of joy I get every time I look at you!

Thank you Oh Larch Branches (actually I think they may be alder!) for falling just where I could find you, and bring you home to adnire fully your twiggy lacy cone-scattered decorative loveliness.

I was reminded by my friend Julia of thanking our things (a la Marie Kondo). I had rather got out of the habit, and it is such a fun habit - it makes me smile every single time I do it!

Try it.

Go thank you favourite things.

Did it make you smile?

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Simply Fun....

2/9/2015

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To celebrate completing our path (see here) we had a barbecue on the beach this evening.

Venison sausage, thyme and butter mash and baked beans. A glass of clean sharp vinho verde.

A ripe peach on the dying embers with a chocolate placed on top to serve, and I always save a little wine to have with dessert.

It was mild and still, the only sounds gulls, eider ducks, oyster catchers and the haunting sound of the curlews...

We stayed a couple of hours.

September's looking good.

I hope your September has got off to a good start too.

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Simply....

26/8/2015

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Who are these guys? :)

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Simply Fun..

30/7/2014

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on the beach..

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Simply..rehearsing....

22/7/2014

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for the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow....

I wasn't there, but my husband was! 'Very impressive' he said.

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Simply..fun with Matisse....

9/5/2014

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I bought a pad of bright coloured paper from the gorgeous Tate Modern shop (you can get it online here) and am having fun getting Matisse Cut Outs out of my system!

Picasso said -

'I go for a walk in the forest of Fontainebleau and I get green indigestion. I must get rid of this sensation into a picture. Green rules it. A painter paints to unload himself of feelings and visions.'

I don't really want to be Matisse of course (and neither did Andy Warhol) but I would love some of his vitality and courage!

What I've learned from doing these is what a master of composition he was...

Will you be going to the exhibition?

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Simply..a Harry Potter moment....

7/5/2014

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..on the No 91 bus.

There was a tube strike while we were in London and the first 91 bus was packed so tight the driver didn't even open the doors. Just as we were considering what to do, out of nowhere it seemed swayed a vintage London bus with 'No 91 Special Service' on the front and a large avuncular conductor leaning off the back of it waving us all on with a big smile..

I was vaguely wondering how I could use my Oyster Card on this, and did I have enough change if cash was required, as we climbed aboard and sat at the front of the top deck for the best view as it sped down to Aldwych with a ding-ding of its old fashioned bell. (Was it my imagination or was there really hardly any other traffic on the road?)

'Here we are!' cried the cheerful conductor and we all piled off (no-one had been asked to pay) and the bus swung off to rescue another bunch of mildly bemused customers. We all looked at each other for a moment as if to say 'Did that really happen?' before setting off in our different directions to carry on with our day..

It still makes me smile.

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If you liked this....

30/3/2014

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You'll probably like this..

I love Marimekko!

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Simply....city!

24/1/2014

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Multitasking..

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Simply Stylish..fashion is my fun!

25/9/2013

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I've found my buy for Autumn. (See post here.) Not the sweater or jacket I set out to find, but this unlined coat from Topshop. It's just the right weight, is beautifully cut and detailed and the finish is remarkably good (all seams are nicely bound, an extra button inside to make it hang well, the collar sits perfectly..).

(Sorry the photograph isn't of the same standard! It's from Topshop's website)

Perfectly put together, and roomy enough for a warm layer underneath.

I thought the price of £79 was terrific for the quality, and because the popper fastenings were loose they took £20 off. Nice.

Love it with these shoes.

Have you bought anything new for the new season?

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Simply Fun....

10/4/2013

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Fun is simple, mostly.

Photographing something that amuses, making things - sea monsters, tin can decorations. Even minor mishaps can be fun to relate (if not fun at the time). See under Simply Fun if you have a little time to browse - there are just a few posts surprisingly, considering how much fun I have..

Fun is an attitude of mind.

Fun is writing this blog.

Fun is reading your comments.

- thank you!

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Simply city fun..

1/12/2012

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Simply Fun..and 'punkins'....

31/10/2012

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Nine for a seasonal lunch..

And more fun than I intended with the baking! I borrowed a mixer and couldn't detach the beaters which were of course covered in the cake mix, and raised out of the bowl..
'I wonder if it only works when it is switched on?' I thought....

and switched it on! I can't believe I did this! We had to change our clothes and clean the kitchen down - walls, cupboards, floor.

I'm laughing now (but I wasn't then).

The children transformed this...(spot the robin!)

..to this zany character with wild tomato eyes and leery gummy grin!

Two year old Scott calls it a 'Punkin' - a name which will probably stick in the family now.

Have fun tonight....

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Simply Fun..and strange creatures on the shore....

5/8/2012

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Inspired by the sculpture park....

a sea monster,

and a headless child!

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Simply Christmas..and Simply Fun....

17/12/2011

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Making, photographing and writing posts about all these candles, lanterns and pretty things is a lovely escape from more urgent matters such as emergency plumbers, the computer screen message 'your hard drive is about to fail', avoiding fallen trees and salting icy paths, ordering and stacking more logs, replacing greenhouse glass broken in the gales....winter here is hard work at present!

I blogged about these lanterns last year, but that was before the 'blog hop' www.thriftyhousehold.co.uk so I hope it's worth repeating.

You take a few tin cans, fill them with water and put them in the freezer till solid (or just out the back door here today).

Then with a hammer and a nail you punch holes in a pattern, which you can mark with a felt pen first.

I found the easiest way to manage this was to sit on the doorstep holding the can between my feet.

Nine year old Ross helped make these ones.

The photographs were taken in the bitter cold, so are slightly out of focus!

If you were really patient and had saved up lots of tin cans, you could put a letter on each to spell out someone's name or a message....

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Simply Fun....

3/10/2011

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Making something on the beach or in a park or a wood with what is already there is fun, and creative.

I sometimes make 'North Points' (essentially arrows pointing to the north) when on holiday or out on a walk.

This is part of one.

Sometimes if you go back to one you find that someone has added to it.

Simple fun..

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Forward>>

Simply..fascinated...

Simply..filling the well....

Simply..a wish list....

Simply..new and improved....

Simply..heartened....

Simply..A Winter Plan....

Simply..north points....

Simply..love blogging....

Simply..fun....

Simply..a blast....

Simply Fun....

Simply....

Simply Fun..

Simply..rehearsing....

Simply..fun with Matisse....

Simply..a Harry Potter moment....

If you liked this....

Simply....city!

Simply Stylish..fashion is my fun!

Simply Fun....

Simply city fun..

Simply Fun..and 'punkins'....

Simply Fun..and strange creatures on the shore....

Simply Christmas..and Simply Fun....

Simply Fun....

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