pair of autumnal beauties

Earlier this week I gathered some poppy heads from my garden to bring inside in a vase - I love the soft colours and the flower shape on the top.  I shook out all the seeds into appropriate corners of my garden first so that I can have more lovely read petals then seed heads next year.

Later that day when out walking I noticed a teasel growing and thought it would make a good pair - 2 seed heads with very different shapes

looking forward to all your pairs this week

me on Monday

waving to everyone on a decidedly autumnal day.

It was a third successive weekend of rugby and crochet – with 4 more to come as the Rugby World Cup works through to its Halloween final.  I thoroughly enjoyed all the games but recognise some of my lovely blogreaders will be disappointed by England’s loss.

I did spend some time away from my sofa – at some free book related events at a local library including an interesting discussion on the idea of bringing wolves back to Scotland and how their return would drastically change the landscape as the number of deer and rabbits would decrease and so more plants would survive and thus new habitats emerge.

And I spotted a recent resident on my river – I’d heard one had been spotted in the spring but had not seen it until this weekend when not only did I see the Kingfisher but it stayed still long enough for me to get a nice photo

Wishing you all a good week.

September was

September was nicely busy with plenty of crafting, sports watching and visits.

Crafting has mostly been around planning a crochet project gift which I can’t share but has fabulous colours. Plus a successful craft fair with my crafting for charity group where we raised over £200 which has now gone to Mary’s Meals and will provide a meal for 16 children at school for a year.

As well as hours in front of the TV watching rugby I also saw the  Cycle Race of Britain when it passed through my local high street.  20 minutes of waiting then the whole peloton come past in seconds – fun to see once but I’m not going to become an avid cycle race spectator.

 

September brought 2 assessment in my sign language class – in one we had to have a conversation with a classmate, including interruption and questions and in the other we watched 2 videos of a signed story and then answered question about one and wrote a summary of the other (I passed both assessments).  Class is now finished for the year and I haven’t decided if I’ll continue to level 3 next year.

September was a month of visitors.  My Aunt was in town for a look see and my cousin delivered her daughter to university (who is enjoying her studies and busy social life in halls).  A friend from NZ passed through town long enough for a good chat and catch up (and rugby discussion with her husband).  And I spent a lovely afternoon with blogfriend Sandie who had been at a workshop nearby – and of course the camera timers were used to record the (windswept) meeting.

And I went on a trip to Liverpool with my sister and parents.  Mum wanted to see the Jackson Pollock exhibition (abstract paint squiggles) and we visited the Gormley display of statues on the beach (photos shared on Monday).

September was another good reading month – all on my kindle this month

An interesting and exciting dystopian future Britain where robots are fighting humans for dominance – the beginning in Edinburgh was scarily accurate in details of the city.  A good read if dystopian thrillers are your thing – Barricade by Jon Wallace

A happier imagined world, set in USA, follows the norms of a fantasy quest story set in modern USA, with a Googler as the wizard and lots of clever use of tech to solve the central puzzle –good fun and an easy read if you like this genre -  Mr Penumbra's 24 hour Book Store by Robin Sloan

A different kind of imagined reality, where the lives of a couple are followed in 3 alternative versions all based around what happened at a chance meeting.  an interesting idea and well developed once I learnt the basic premise of each version.  The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett

And finally The Hummingbird by Kati Hiekkapelto - a Finnish police drama ( a nice change from the Swedish ones) – good characters and a compelling mystery.

September was definitely a change in season – although I was appalled to see Christmas decorations appear in some shops already. Out and about lots of lovely autumn colours appearing and wonderful reflection on the water with the lower light

before and after pair

The two chimneys on the power station were demolished on Saturday - the power station was decommissioned 2 years ago and they have slowly been dismantling all the buildings.

Lots of people lined various vantage points to watch the explosion - on land and water. It was fast and there was a lot of dust.

The view will take some getting used to without the chimneys as prominent markers.  i guess 50 years ago when they were built the locals felt equally challenged to get used to the new skyline.

Looking forward to all your usual creative ideas in pairs this week.