July finds in the scavenger hunt

I’m making steady progress with Rinda’s scavenger hunt with another 4 items collected this month.

I captured 2 versions of a metal bridge (number 6) on a train trip – above is the view of a large metal bridge out of the window of a moving train as we cross the bridge (the now Word Heritage Forth Rail Bridge – as in the river Forth, not mis-spelled fourth)

Then the people bridge over the tracks at our destination

Plenty of public toilets I could have used for number 12 but I was waiting for something eye-catching and found that this week in the Modern Art Gallery – particularly pleased to have captured the black floor tiles distorted in the metal bin as I was there to see an Escher exhibition

My trip up the Shard when I was in London provided a perfect opportunity for a panoramic view from somewhere high – this is the highest viewing space in London – on the 69th floor

Also in London, at the Victoria and Albert museum I found an ornate door-knocker – after looking through the metal work collection with no sight of a door knocker, I asked one of the staff members who said they had never been asked for an ornate door knocker before but suggested the big doors on display in the ‘big objects’ gallery

Hopeful of capturing several more in August but have no idea where I will find a flagpole with 3 or more flags and not at all sure about people playing a game. And I still need to actually take the one I see most days – a person walking a dog

Thanks Rinda for another great photo hunt.

retro Pairs

looking out of the window at the buddleia I realised it would be perfect for a revisit to last year's meme of zoom in, zoom out

I think the yellow ball at the bee's tail is a collection of pollen.

Looking forward to seeing what treasure you have collected this week in your pairs

me on Monday

ignoring the rain outside to wave to you all, and an extra wave for Sian home from her holiday.

with wind and rain outside I was happy to settle down to some crochet – inspired by a necklace worn by our tutor at the gallery and using the wool we were allowed to take home from that event I crocheted a chain – no not the basic chain that starts every crochet project but a big funky chunky chain made of links

more evidence, if any is needed, that crochet lends itself to many forms and some crocheteers are nutty / highly creative

with no let up on the rain likely today I’m anticipating an afternoon of crochet on my jumper (doing the sleeves). 

Hope you all have opportunities for some creativity this week.

an evening at the art gallery

I spent an interesting evening at a gallery creating crochet objects.  The idea was that we drew inspiration from their current installation and then have some creative play.  There were 20 of us – knitters and crocheteers – although about half the women there primarily create with other medium such as jewellery or plastics or sculpture. 

after 2 hours of concentrated play we displayed all our pieces

the original idea was to create several combined pieces but we ran out of time for that – I think if the same group were to meet regularly it would happen.

Mine is the cluster in the middle with the 3 small balls inside a frilled thing (its creative play, not identifiable or useful objects!).

I really enjoyed the collective playing and creating things from yarn just for fun and the chat with creative women.  I often see notices about creative events in galleries and then realise it is for kids so was very pleased to have one for adults.

I wasn’t taken with the installation and I don’t think many people really used it as inspiration.  The gallery was pleased with the enthusiasm from us so will probably do it again, hopefully with a more inspiring exhibition as the starting point.

Do any of you have local galleries that host creative events for adults?

Pair of pairs

while visiting my sister last week I took an early morning stroll  to see the inhabitants of her neighbour's field

 

the donkeys were grazing what they could reach without getting up while the chickens were busy looking for food - and the other inhabitants were still sleeping (a pair of pigs and a pony).

From a photography and pairs perspective I was particularly pleased that both pairs were together.

Anticipating more delightful pairs from you all.

me on Monday

a big wave to everyone whether you are at home or on holiday (or indeed somewhere else).

The summer festival season in Edinburgh started with flare this weekend. 

On Saturday I enjoyed some free toe-tapping as jazz musicians entertained on 4 stages.  A great array of jazz styles and a chance to see some more unusual musical instruments

Then on Sunday a carnival parade along the main street with masses of drummers and fabulous head dresses (and a very cute little girl) – I collaged some together

great to see so many people enjoying the music and the spectacle – which continued with performances in the park until rain sent us under trees for shelter and then home. 

At home a satisfying fruit picking session in my back garden means I wont need to buy any fruit this week – I also have a nice stash of raspberry conserve after going to a fruit picking farm during the week.

Wishing you all a good week with some toe tapping

Summr of Colour completed

Each year I find that the 6 creative weeks of Kristin's Summer of Colour whizz past and again the 6th palette seems to have come around so fast.  We end with a lovely vibrant complimentary pairing of 2 oranges with a blue.

 

and here is my completed page with all 6 combos

Thank you Kristin for another lovely creative party and to everyone who has inspired me with their wonderful pieces across a range of mediums and thank you to everyone who has visited and left comments - see you all next year.

pairs with a view

one of the places I visited when I was in London was the Shard which has the highest viewing platform in London - on the 69th floor.  It is high - we saw helicopters below us and a spitfire flyover at eye-level.  It was a clear day with amazing views out across the city - I would love to go back at night to see all the lights of the city.

 

 Looking froward to all the sites you are sharing this week - but I won't be round to visit any until late Thursday - I'll be busy picking produce.

Me on Monday

Back home and resting my feet after a very enjoyable long weekend in London visiting two old University friends and enjoying some of the fabulous opportunities to feed the senses (and remember how much walking and waiting is part of a mega city).

My first treat was going to see Jersey Boys (no photos allowed) with plenty of wonderful songs and a smile on my face the entire time.

Next day I set off for some sight seeing (more on Wednesday) and then enjoyed the smells and tastes of the Borough food market with a lunch of Ethiopian beef and spinach, Danish pastry and iced tea plus samples of truffle butter, ice-cream and brownie

Then a nice sit in the park before I met my friend – watching children play in the water spurts which changed height every few minutes, taking some by surprise.  Energising to watch how much the kids (of all ages) were enjoying running around the water and how fast they went from avoiding the water to getting soaked.

And in the evening the reason for the timing of my trip – in the studio audience for the filming of one of my favourite TV shows – The Last Leg (no photos allowed). Fascinating to see the bits and pieces before the cameras roll and the bits in the advert breaks but the rest really is live with no re-takes.  Plenty of chat and jokes with the audience when not on air helps create a fun atmosphere.  If I ever wrote a bucket list then being in the audience for a live TV recording of a show I watch would have been on it – so one less item to include if I were ever to write one!

Next morning I headed off for one more creative boost with a visit to the V&A museum and got there early to queue for on the day tickets for the very popular exhibition of Alexander McQueen creations – an amazingly creative fashion designer.  After an hour of queuing I did get a ticket and was wowed by the exhibition which has lots of pieces all beautifully staged.  Again no photos allowed inside the exhibition and the 12 postcards on offer were not of the pieces I particularly loved.

Then home again with sore feet but a big smile.

Waving and wishing you a good week at home or on holiday.

5 in 5 in yellow

By some strange coincidence Sandie and Maggie also went with a colour theme for their 5 in 5 in July collections.

Taking advantage of a pleasantly warm and sunny day we went for a walk through a local park (which was created on the old clay digging site for the local potteries)

around the edge of the pond is an abundance of yellow iris plants

with plenty of bright blooms

and amazing reflections in the water

making nicely abstract colour patterns

Thanks to Sandie for her lovely monthly prompt to share 5 photos taken in 5 minutes – you can see what others have done on her blog.

Summer of colour–green and pink

another lovely complimentary palette from Kristin – two greens and a pink and I went for some soft versions and circle patterns

which means my page is nearly complete

I didn’t look at my previous colour choices before I started but was glad to see that I had chosen a different kind of pink and bluer greens than for weeks 2 and 1

so much wonderful creativity in a lovely range of mediums being sparked by the palettes each week – as in previous years I’ve found new people I want to follow once the challenge is over. Thank you Kristin for the whole creative package that is Summer of Colour.

Pair on the vine

a nice tasty before and after this week

I have two vines growing in my living room window and they now have enough tomatoes ripening for me to pick them for my lunch - delicious and so satisfying.

me on Monday

a quiet, overcast and sometimes wet weekend – perfect for lots of crochet progress

each row is a new colour which is fun but means lots of ends so I am being good and sewing them in as I go.

It was also a weekend of visiting the monthly organic market in a gap in the rain; half watching (listening while I crochet) to the tennis; reading old sci-fi books; playing with photoshop; talking about what to see in the upcoming jazz and food festivals (2 separate events but a mash up sounds good to me)

and just ensuring I

[Lady Ella asked how I drew ‘June’ on the sand so neatly on the photo in my last post.  As you can see I can also draw on water – because I’m using photoshop magic – write the words, add a layer style of down bevel, copy the background photo and move it to the layer above the text then clip it to the text – honestly that will make sense to photoshop users]

Waving to you all, especially Sian who instigates the weekly wave, and hoping you have a great week – I’m sure I will as I’m popping down to London later this week – I’ll be seeing old friends and doing something that would be on my bucket list if I had one.

June was

June was nicely busy with outings and creative projects.

I laughed loudly at Spamalot and admired the male bodies and dramatic choreography at the ballet Car Man using the music from Carman. On TV I binged on the latest series of Orange is the New Black.

I worked on a nice range of crochet projects with two sizes of sensory sleeves and some baby guinea pigs.  Then towards the end of the month, as the sunshine and heat returned, I was inspired by magazine pictures of crochet autumn jumpers and started to plan colours for a striped jumper.  Creating the colour pegs really is helpful in planning the colour order – as well as making me feel like a professional crocheter.

Sunny weather in-between the rainy days meant that I was able to get out for walks with my camera and soak up some vitamin D and hunt for scavenger hunt items (7 captured).  I even managed some garden tidying as well as enjoying salad leaves from my garden several times each week and the first two tomatoes from my plants (inside). I’m a convert to kale salads and have been enjoying versions of this recipe using kale from my garden – I didn’t dig out the old plant so can still pick new leaves which work really well for the salad.

In my sign language class we prepared for out first assessment – I had to create a story about a deaf man in a hotel when the fire alarm goes off – a careful balance of telling a story, demonstrating my understanding of proper syntax and using the vocabulary that I have.  As we learn more we are realising how much more there is to learn about syntax and the difference between formal and informal signing (like the difference between received English and colloquial phrases).

But I still had time to finish the second Robin Hobbs trilogy and then wrench myself out of that imagined land to read 3 very different books.  I enjoy Karen Rose’s storytelling in her crime novels but find the level of violence uncomfortable to read too often.  Then I finally read the much talked about Kite Runner - I enjoyed the characters and narrative but it is not a happy book.  Perfect also held my attention with interesting characters dealing with hard situations.  I think I need some happy books this month!

Finally my favourite photo was taken on a sunny day when the firth had a scenic layer of fog and a lone boat provided a nice visual punctuation mark.

Summer of colour is fiery

Kristin chose a fiery palate for us this week of 2 reds and a metallic – if I was using pens I’d be loving this, especially with my new metallic sharpies – the best metallic pens ever.

But metallic in digital creation, not so easy.  I did manage a bronze as a background from my bright red paisley patterns

and the page is filling up nicely with great colour combos

What a wealth of creativity being shared each week and looking forward to seeing how everyone used the metallic element.

Pair of tenacious plants

a nice bit of contrast this week, linked by the fact that both of these are growing out of the wall that forms the river bank and both seem to be thriving in what look like a barren growing spot.  Loving the soft purple and green - reminds me of school days as those, with bottle green, were our school uniform colours.

The end of June means we are half way through the year and what a wonderful range of pairs we have had so far - thanks to all of you for taking part