Colour is a very personal thing.......... so before I go any further, I want to say I respect other people's colour choices................
I love the combination of (particular) yellows, set against grey............... I know it's a fashionable combination at the moment, and I'm glad of that fact............. But................
............ When we first moved in to this house a number of years ago, the first wall colour we changed was this bright yellow on the kitchen walls. When we came to start the works on the house, Hugo ripped away the kitchen units, and the old yellow was revealed.
It wasn't that we found the yellow too intrusive, (which we did!), it was more about making our own mark on the kitchen.
The simple act of a change of colour, made that kitchen............ our kitchen..............
I found a few flakes of zingy, zesty yellow in amongst some rubble I was sweeping up yesterday........
The last of someone else's yellow.........
Step away from the musty smells of piles of builders rubble................. and take a deep breath.
Everywhere dull greys are brought to life by dazzling Spring green.
If fresh Spring greens were a tonic, I'd drink cups of the stuff.
Gulp it down...........
This ivy makes me think of happy wedding parties, standing at the gates of a church, throwing confetti, and getting caught up in the joy of the newly-weds.
And this makes me remember sunlight.
Green is slowly pushing out grey, becoming the dominant colour..............
I had a breather last weekend, when I went on a course with Di Gilpin, in St.Andrew's, Scotland. The course was organised by Country Living Magazine.
The course was a very generous Birthday gift from my family.
It was a wonderful break from everything here at home................ lovely group of people, Di Gilpin and her adoring staff could not have been nicer, infact, they gave us all a most relaxing and fun time, and the food was excellent. I returned home revitalised........ to a nice surprise....... after a week of not seeing hide nor hair of the builders, they had turned up on the Saturday and laid a concrete floor......... at this moment in time, things like this make me very happy!
On 17th March the basement of our house will look as though a bomb has hit it.
This is the moment I have been dreading.
We won't have a kitchen........ there will be builder's dust everywhere........... and we're not too sure how long this upheaval will last.
It's been years in the coming. Years of thinking and planning and saving.
And now the moment of realisation is imminent.
The builders might be arriving next Monday, but we have to clear the entire basement area before they turn up....... which is what we started to do over the weekend, and haven't finished yet.
I'm feeling a bit weary.
So, with the pressure of work, and the physicality of shifting 'stuff', I suspect my blogging over the next week, or so, is going to be erratic.
I find that I need some time each day to relax and think about the posts for my blog, which is going to be thin on the ground.
So I'm afraid that if you aren't interested in photos of walls and things being destroyed.......... a good portion of the content of my blog over the next few........... months(!)............ will bore you rigid. I can only apologise!
On the other hand, taking a more positive point of view, if you like those 'before' and 'after' photos you see in interiors magazines, then the little journey our basement will be going on, might be fascinating for you!
I hope I'll have at least a few moments to create some still lives, and have 'pretty' things on my blog, to contrast all the chaos in the house........
Hugo knows my tastes..............
............ Not just in handbags, but also in Valentine's bouquets.
These Parrot Tulips are set against Farrow and Ball's 'Chartwell Green'. Farrow and Ball seem to have discontinued this colour, but looking at their colour card, I think 'Teresa's Green' is a close match.
I just love this colour combination........ that soft green is a good contast for many colours, everything seems to look good against it.
A handbag, and flowers ...............
Could you have a sweeter gift...................
These leaves are almost on fire, aren't they? Burning a hole in the tablecloth with their blaze of orange.
Good colours for a cold wintry day, something to warm your eyes with.
............... Maybe even warm your heart!
A Monday morning, and outside it's dark enough to disorientate the senses.
Outside it's pouring with rain.
Everything is dripping wet, and cold.
But inside I have my first Daffodils and Tulips making a sunny, jolly statement.
I look at them, and breath in their colour...............
............ and their drama.
I try and think of warm Spring days, dappled sunlight, bird song.................
And life feels sunnier.
For me, the 'little' things in life are often the most rewarding. I will feel my day has been a satisfying one, if I've had some small visual stimulation, a surprise observation............ an inner smile at something!
When this thoughtful package dropped through the letter box, it made my day.
Leaves from the Lake District, gathered and pressed by my Mother-in-Law, Susan. They were packaged in clear plastic, some card keeping them flat .............. and it was a delight to receive them, the simplicity and care in the gift were heart-warming.
This gift has had real longevity, because they sit on my desk in my studio, so I appreciate them every day. I don't normally have an urge to paint still-lives, but I want to paint these leaves.
The colours are so intense, I find it amazing that they still retain their pigment, despite no longer being attached to their tree.
Some things are confusing, and it's always difficult to know how to handle them. As we get older, we cultivate stock responses to situations, and if it's a nasty situation, we try to keep our emotions under control. Well, that's what I've tried to train myself to do............
Some things are just plain baffling........... I had a conversation today with someone who tries to make a living as an artist, and during the conversation, I mentioned that I had started a blog. "What's the point of a blog?" she asked, in slightly sneering tones. So I started to explain why I do my blog, and the community that has developed around blogging, then it occured to me to ask her if she's ever read a blog....... and she said no, she hadn't.
I carried on trying to explain the allure of the blogging world, and she suddenly said in the middle of it, "Well I think blogging is a big waste of time". Not said in a soft manner either.
Stunned silence.
I retorted shakily that I didn't think that was a very nice thing to say, she just shrugged, and said that that was what she thought. I did manage to croak out load I thought she was rude.
Needless to say, the conversation came to an abrupt halt.
In sticky situations like this, I start to shake, my mouth goes dry, and I feel I need a nice hot cup of tea.
I have never been able to train myself to shrug it off when people say mean things.
I wonder how people like Alicia from'Posie gets Cozy', and Jane from 'Yarnstorm', and the thousands of people who read and love their blogs, (infact, see it as an essential part of their daily reading and entertainment), would feel, if those blogs were dismissed as a waste of time. The very thought seems outrageous!
I mentioned that I'd had over 10,000 hits on my blog, and I started it less than a month ago, but that didn't seem to interest her at all.
Actually, when I came home I double checked that figure, and the number stands at a very exciting 10,317!
Unfortunately another habit I can't curtail, is that I really do listen to people.......... so even when someone says something mean, like blogging is a waste of time, I start to mull it over, and so I began to wonder if my blog is a waste of time....... as she said, what's the point of blogging?
I enjoy it, that's the point.
Before the grey days and dim light set in, I had a leaf garland hanging at one of the windows.
It was inspired by the one in the November issue of Country Living magazine. The 'how to' is on page 154.
They glowed when the sun shone, it was like looking at stained glass at its dazzling best.
when the night drew in, the leaves would slowly lose their lustre, and in comparison to their glorious colour when the sun was shining, They looked dull and lifeless.
I can see why things like snow flakes hanging at the window would be more successful for the grey days and long nights. Rather than relying on the sun to bring them to life, they need the contrast of a dull background to accentuate their shapes, and if they are white, the dark contrasts with the white, to make them more dazzling.
I'm not quite ready to accept snowlakes into my home yet.
Yellow roses that don't need sunshine to make them dazzling, are very welcome.
