Just when it feels like Spring is approaching, we get sharply reminded it's still winter, with a cold snap.
It is beautiful though...........
That makes up for the bitter cold.
It brings to mind exquisite lace..........
.......... or a cobweb shawl.
Is this cobweb strong, or is it delicate?
Can it be both..............?
All I know is that I felt fortunate to see these frozen cobwebs before they thawed, and just became ......well, ordinary cobwebs ......... again.
It's snowing outside, and I'm thinking about tea cups.
While we were in North Yorkshire, I bought these tea cups from various flea markets.
They were all 'finds'............. hidden away behind things I would describe as .............. well items not to my taste, put it that way.......
Because they all had slight faults, they were inexpensive, so for me, they were a bargain!
A beautiful bargain........... I want to use them in my still-lives at some point.
I had them displayed on the mantle piece, above the fireplace of our accomodation, while we were on holiday.
As I was in a 'hunting for beautiful bargain tea-cups' frame of mind, I started to notice tea cups every where we went................
......... These were displayed on the window sill of the refined tea room we visited in Helmsley, 'The Black Swan'. It was very pleasurable, munching on cucumber sandwiches, and scones with butter, cream and jam, whilst staring at these tea cups, and wondering how old they were, and who had drunk from them........
Tea cup tourism didn't end with looking at delicate fine bone china in an elegant tea house......... no, there was more quality viewing in the James Herriot Museum.
Tea cups, waiting to be used.......... imagine, cloth smoothed over the kitchen table, and tea cups gently laid out, followed by plates of cream buns and sweet confections, all washed down with tea from a pot, kept warm under a knitted tea cosy................ What would you call that? 'The English Tea Ceremony'?!!
We went to Edinburgh last Saturday, and I saw some splendid shoes, not in a shop, but on someone's feet, in a cafe.
I was surreptitiously trying to photograph them, when they started to walk away...............
I had to take quick action.
I thought, someone wearing these shoes may well be friendly.
I just blurted it out, "would you mind if I took a photograph of your shoes?".
Desperation to photograph them had made me reckless.
I needn't have worried because she was incredibly friendly, and we ended up having a conversation, and introducing ourselves to each other.
Oh, and I practically got down on the floor of the busy cafe to take photographs.
Catharine gamely arranged her feet for me.
I told her a little about myself, and she revealed that she is an artist. I've looked at her work, and it is gorgeous, so much energy, and impressive mark making. And then she went off to re-join her boyfriend, who, as it turns out, is also an artist. His work has a strong narrative element, and the pieces are intriguing and beautiful.
And where are those shoes from?! Cyprus.......... a bit of a journey to buy a pair of shoes.
