Midweek (sort of) miscellany

Currently, the blog's all about capturing little moments. Despite having a list of post ideas (for Food Memories, Elegant Economy and so on) I'm reduced to keeping things short and sweet. Deadlines loom. House things, exciting as they are, need dealing with. Joe is currently Testing The Boundaries.

Anyway... our week. You know it's a certain time of the summer when there are gladioli in the house. Statuesque, gaudy and another marker of the turning of the seasons. It'll be dahlias next.

We've had some rather lovely weather lately, and lovely weather means lots of walks. This was Joe yesterday heading over to inspect a couple of JCBs (which explains the pointy finger). The Environment Agency are often to be seen near the little park, working on the flood defences. Getting in early before autumn probably.

Although the earth they bank up is quickly covered with wild flowers, and very pretty it all is too.

Yesterday I achieved the almost impossible: an empty laundry basket. I cannot resist the lure of sunshine and breezes. Everything gets washed and hung out on the line.

The scarf is a potential candidate for dyeing. Although it may not be cotton. Who knows? It could turn out to be a bit of a disaster. I'll file it under Future Projects.

The buddleia is getting ready to bloom. Most of the plants outside look fine but despite leaving the hosta alone, the slugs and snails have devoured several things. I wish the birds would concentrate on eating them rather than the strawberries...

Much to Jay's horror I'm going to paint a bookcase with this. It's currently varnished in a dark brown colour and is just crying out to be pink. Well, maybe I'm the only one who can hear the cries but still. I'm going for it. If the end result's a bit much it can happily go in my new workspace once we move. Although I have faith...

I squeezed in a little walk this morning when Joe went to nursery. It was lovely and bright and breezy, so off I went to take a few pictures and get some outdoor therapy before commencing yet more drawing.

One day I'll get some of my photos printed. They'd make good reference material for said drawings.

The little piggies have grown a bit since I last saw them. They trotted over endearingly when they saw me. Yes, I know they were after food but they were perfectly happy having their ears scratched. So that was fine.

I finally managed to find the Holy Grail last week. Well, my own personal one anyway. I've mentioned before that I have a set of 'Anne of Green Gables' books; they belonged to my mum. I grew up reading them and they're one possession I'd hate to ever lose in a house fire or similar catastrophe. Well, one of the series was always missing. I've looked for it for years, both online and whenever I go in a secondhand bookshop. The set I have are published by Harrap and that particular edition was printed in the 1970s. I chanced a quick look on Ebay the other night and there it was. £4.99 and well worth it. My search is over!

Anyway, that's my week so far. One last thing - I received a comment (from Helen) asking about my work last week and where it could be viewed. I'm unable to reply as the comment is 'anonymous' but please feel free to email me directly.

Have a good Friday and a lovely weekend.