IN A RUT

I am not sure what the problem is but I feel in a rut.When I was doing the daily journal page over at milliande.com i was motivated every day. Now without that daily prompt i am just drifting. I feel as if i am creating things just for the sake of it. I always know when i get these low moods because i buy things usually that i do not need..Yesterday I received the Tim Holtz Sizzix die leaves which i ordered on a whim. I am pleased with it but i did not need it.

I used it straight away to cut leaves from can lids and then embossed with a texture folder.
And today i ordered more dies so watch this space tomorrow.
This week i also created 4 house ATCs for a swap on milliande.com these have been sent off to sunny California today.

They look so dark in the photo but are a bit brighter in the flesh. They were actually quite fiddly to do.I  used a clip art picture of a house which i adjusted the size and printed on to tissue not as easy as it sounds. I sprayed a sheet of A4 card with a reposition able glue and stuck the tissue to it. this was so i could put it through the printer. the houses were then applied to the ATC. I then did the same with a photo i had taken of the sunset over the village. Lastly i used a photo of an oak tree in my field and altered it with PICNIK and then printed it on to acetate this was then cut out and attached with foam pads.
I have also got ahead of my self and done the journal pages for Nina's swap and this evening i have started to make bookmarks for another swap.

I have also signed up to swap a piece of art with Nina (Ginger Pickles ) see my blog lists  through milliande.com although I find this daunting as Nina whats to have this piece on her wall.

Earlier this week when i was just wasting time playing with PICNIK i decided to alter a picture of myself.

original with turkey  neck dark circles and lines

neck and skin smoothed out

and then i added pink hair

This was such good fun that i ordered a tube of pink shampoo which I may use over the weekend i do not think i will get the same depth of colour as my hair has quite dark roots but watch this space.

snowdrops in the ditch

one lone crocus flower by the pavement

a small group of daffodils on the sea wall

I am just going to add photos of signs of spring i saw today while walking Wilson they are not good photos but i feel as if i want to keep a record.

And lastly going back to my original statement about feeling low well i know one of my problems is the fact that i am putting on weight. I know that as i come up to 58 it is harder to keep the weight off but i am finding it impossible. OK I know in my last blog posting i had photos of pizza and eclairs but if i know i will be eating fatty things i cut down during the day. So yes i feel very shallow when i say it is getting me down after all if all i have to worry about is a little weight gain i am a very fortunate woman. which of course i am.

VALENTINES DAY

Valentines Day nothing special about that in our house but it was great to have the early morning sun streaming through the window.I have 2 orchid plants that I thought I had killed off last year but they have flowered now for several months so i must be doing something right.

Wilson running through puddle

I think this may be one of a pair i photographed last September.

Ladybirds mating September 2010

I only took Wilson for a short walk across the fields I was hoping to see some signs of spring but green shoots are few and far between but i took this photo as the clouds passed behind the old oak tree.Wilson did his usual run through a muddy puddle  . Walking back to the house I spotted a Ladybird on one of  the young larch trees  which I thought was strange as I had photographed  a pair mating  in the same place last year.so i am not sure if she died of shock or got stuck in resin but it is amazing it has been there all winter.

The wildlife pond is looking very bare at the moment but i am hoping i will get some frogs this year and also that the grass snake comes back .
Because we have had such a harsh winter Britain has proberly lost a lot of plants .There can not be many streets that do not have at least one garden with a Cordyline Australis. In this area i do not think many survided  I lost two and my neighbour lost several some as big as trees.

winter damage

Wilson had a quick drink from the trough before we went in to do some cooking.

As I had time i decided to make a Pizza even though I do try to avoid wheat they are so easy to cook. I also made some eclairs which i have not done for a few years .I used to make them on a regular basis. instead of filling with cream and chocolate i just poured some spun sugar and cream over to serve.

Just in case you are wondering I only has a very small slice of pizza and very little cream on the eclairs.

BATH OR BUST

Yesterday i had planned to spend the morning with my Mother and Sister In Law in Bath where they live .It is only 25/40 miles away depending on the route but it always seems to be a major journey. One route takes me most of the way on the motorway which is the longest but fastest way but early mornings it is horrible with everyone rushing from A to B. The plus side of this route is the beautiful views as you  drive through the countryside and descend down into the ROMAN city of BATH .
On the other route you have about 6 miles of motorway and then you are on the ring road which takes you around the suburbs of Bristol and ends up at Keynsham a small town near Bristol. This used to be the home of CADBURYS chocolate but the company was sold and the factory closed last week.
From here it is about 15 mins drive to the center of BATH
Yesterday I took the latter route and arrived in good time for our meet up but at that point things went wrong.

This had been planned to entertain my mother who is suffering with memory problems and anxiety while my Father who is 84 was having his second course of Chemotherapy. But due to unforeseen problems our meet up up turned into a very quick pot of tea in Marks and Spencers and we had to leave.
This was a shame because I do not get a chance to do this very often my Sister In Law is amazing she has a very calm nature and and has been a wonderful help to my parents in fact I am not sure they would be here without her.
She was unable to Take Mum home as she had to rush off to pick up my Niece which meant I had to do the 10 min  trip. I of course did not mind but I do not enjoy this route . Although the scenery is amazing and the  little hamlet is idyllic the lanes are so narrow I am on edge in case I meet other vehicles.And building work on the cottage next door means access is poor.

You cannot tell from these pictures how small this cottage is and I grew up here with two brothers and a variety of animals with no running water and no bathroom .The extension you can see was not there we had 2 rooms up stairs and 2 down when I say rooms I  should really say 1 room up with a small adjoining space and the same downstairs .We were cramped.

I was about 18 when this was taken

When I got home I was shattered i felt drained everything had been such a rush but a little visitor came to see me pity I could not have taken a better picture.

As I knew i was expecting a delivery at 7am this morning an early night was called for I was in bed by 10 but could not actually get off to sleep so i read and listened to the radio. At 11.30 Wilson our Labrador started shaking his head and  panting heavily. He has always suffered with his ears from a very young age but this came on very quickly I think it was just irritating him so much his panting got worse and I sat up with him until 3.30 am trying to calm him down . I even gave him RESCUE REMEDY hoping this would calm him down. He kept asking to go out but each time just ended up doing circuits of the garden in a desperate attempt to stop the irritation.I managed a couple of hours of sleep on the sofa before he woke me again at 5.30 am. 

 He has slept a lot today

So as you can imagine there has been no art work done today Milliande suggested we post pictures of accidental hearts in nature and this was a pebble I picked up on the local beach.

MILD BUT WET DAY

Wilson  drinking from trough last summer

Wilson licking rain off the decking

It was very mild  and wet today light showers all day i call it wet rain because i think it gets you wetter than a heavy downpour. This did mean Wilson did not get a walk no need to feel  sorry for him as he has 21 acres to wander around. But he does love getting wet and will even go and sit outside in the rain. Another thing about Wilson he does not like drinking from a bowl preferring to wander out into the field and drink from a cattle trough or like today lick the rain off the decking .

I did pop to the local mall this morning to return an item to MARKS & SPENCERS  but i made the mistake of venturing into the food hall . For those of you not familiar with this company in the UK they have the reputation of being a quality food supplier.Nowadays they cater for everybody unless like me you are vegetarian and then the selection is poor. But they do have fantastic Hot Cross Buns (not just for EASTER ) but all year round. Today you could buy 2 packs of 4 for £ 2 and in theory they should last a few days  for 2 people . BUT  i came in from the car greeted Wilson made a cup of tea and opened one pack.

Once open i could not stop they were delicious and i ended up eating 3 so much for the diet .

ART IS WHEN YOU HEAR A KNOCKING FROM YOUR SOUL

decorated envelope 

 5" x7" journal page swap

It was still raining and avoiding eye contact with the big black lab i decided to finish the second  journal page for the monthly  5" x7" swap on milliande,com. i have had the prompt for about 6 weeks but kept putting off doing this one .But in the end as usually happens with me under pressure i work better. I know you read this Nina so thank you for arranging this each month i really enjoy it. Although i am happy with this page I am not sure it is quite what you had in mind .
I have just had a text message to say that my Goddaughter in Vancouver has just had her second child a little boy so i must try and overcome my flying issues so that i can visit them.

GOOD DAY

It was very foggy first thing this morning but as the day moved on it was great walking weather. Unlike yesterday when it was very wet.
 The big black lab was quite surprised when I got ready to take him out as I was a little earlier than usual. I wanted to see if I could see signs of Spring and yes things are moving.

The Cuckoo pint is showing new leaves bright Green which later will have stems of poisonous berries. I was told as a child it was snakes food. I also saw my first Snowdrops which I decided to photograph on the way back which was a mistake as by then they were in the shade.
We did a detour to the local Post Office and then on to the sea wall and it was glorious the tide was fast moving but very calm and the bridge was shrouded in mist/fog

I should say at this point when I am unsure of the forecast I do not take my large camera so all of these photos are taken with my iphone with different apps. I am always pleased when I see visitors on the wall on nice days and I hope they go home and tell their friends what a great place it is.
When we left the wall we walked down a lane/road which actually runs over the Severn Tunnel which is the main rail link into Wales it runs under the River Severn it was opened in 1885 what an amazing feat of engineering .Bearing in mind that The River Severn has the second highest tidal range in the world. The pipe you see in the above photo used to to pump the water out from the tunnel below but I have not seen that for many years.

I must have walked past this padlock hundreds of times but today it caught my eye I think it was the unusual name on it.

One of the many rabbits in the area was getting a home ready for the breeding season.Last year I spotted early violets on this verge but there were none today. As we walked up another lane where every field now has some form of animal in it a steaming mound of horse manure was heating up in the sun creating  quite a whiff in the air.





Once back home I decide to make a bread pudding with some stale bread this was something i always had as a child .

After dinner i played around with some journal pages that I had started yesterday some using altered magazine pages.

this was a picture of  garden with a wooden garage in it

page taken from National Geographic

work in progress

so now as usual it is late evening and I am dressed for bed rushing to get this posted.