Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Wonderings On Sleepless Nights

Its been a strange old week and a bit.
Nights of rain beaten windows, eerie moaning winds, hot cocoa or tea at 3am. No sleep, then 13 hours worth of sleep without stirring. I've been lumbered with the most horrid cold and cough which does not want to go away.
There are advantages of not being able to sleep. A little Christmas shopping done online and the capturing of beautiful light at dawn.





Sitting up in the quiet when the rest of the house are deep in dream land, I've been listening to the wind in the chimmney like a stormy sea and wondering if whales become high spirited when there are big waves, as cats do when its windy ? I 've wondered how birds stay perched so securely roosting in swaying branches?
I've thought about fishermen out on rough seas and  people who have no home and hope they find safe warm shelter on such nights as these.

I've done  a little work on some wooden hearts and robins...


Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half- light,

An excerpt from the poem by William Butler Yeats 'He wishes for the cloths of heaven'  (which I adore) surrounds the edge of this heart...


And this one has my own words on.....

I dream in indigo.
Velvet skies embroidered with starlight.
A moon whisper song is my lullaby.
Listen with your heart.


These will reach the Etsy shop soon, so keep peeping in if you are interested in them.
I also now have got a facebook fan page. So, if anyone would like to come along and join, you will be more than welcome :)
Right, I think thats it for today.......... I'm off to make myself a hot lemon and honey drink.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Sting - If On A Winter's Night

I'm going to treat myself to this sometime this week.
A good on to sit by the fire and listen to with a mug of hot spiced wine....

Saturday, November 14, 2009

This Day Three Years Ago

On this day three years ago life changed here forever.
 Mother,Wife, Nanny, my Mum, left this life and moved on.
                                                                   


Time has passed so quickly, but it only seems like yesterday sometimes.
On darker days I think of all the little things which have happened  that she has missed, but know that she would have liked to know...

"Your grandson is taller than you were now.
Your grand daughter 'little butterfly' as you used to call her, has started secondary school.
They have both passed piano and violin exams.
We have chickens.
Louie passed away and we have two new Cats.
The Vicar of Dibley got married.
Pavarotti died.
There is to be a follow on, to the Phantom of the Opera.
We got to be on the TV.
I got a blog."

Other days I feel she knows all these things anyway.
.
I love the song sung by Hayley Westenra. from the film The New World.
If you keep the music playing on my blog, then you have probably heard it already.(If not, I have moved the track to the first song that plays.) Whenever I hear the words I always think that these would be Mum's words....

Listen to the Wind


Time is a river that flows endlessly
And a life is a whisper, a kiss in a dream


Shadows dance behind the firelight
And all the spirits of the night remind us:
We are not alone


Tomorrow: a sun soon rising
And yesterday is there beside us
And it's never far away


If you listen to the wind you can hear me again
Even when I'm gone you can still hear the song
High up in the trees as it moves through the leaves
Listen to the wind, there's no end to my...


Love is forever a circle unbroken
The seasons keep changing; it always remains


Spring will melt the snows of winter
And the summer gives us days of light
So long till autumn makes them fade


Remember the sound of laughter
We ran together through the meadows
Still we thought our hearts could break


If you listen to the wind, you can hear me again
Even when I'm gone you can still hear the song
High up in the trees as it moves through the leaves
Listen to the wind and I'll send you my love


Listen to the wind where the sky meets the land
I'm not really gone I've been here all along
High up in the trees in the sound of the leaves
Listen to the wind there's no end to my...


Time is a river that flows to the sea
And a life is a whisper, a kiss in a dream.

I'm sure Mum would have got a blog of her own. She used to love letter writing and poetry  and verse and had many pen pals over the years. Blogging would have suited her perfectly.
 I would like to share this poem that she wrote which is appropriate on such a stormy night.

The Gipsy In My Soul

When all around me are fast asleep
And moonlight through my window creeps
Like an echo in my head
I feel it calls me from my bed

To the window opened wide
To stand and gaze at all outside.
"Come outside" It seems to say..
"Come out in the milky way!"

When all around are fast asleep
And rain upon my window beats 
Though pillows soft around my head
It seems to draw me from my bed
To the window fastened tight
To stand and gaze into the night.
It calls me to its dark embrace
"Come let the raindrops wash your face"


When all around are fast asleep
And gales blow strong and windows creak
Though chilled the night and earth is cold
I feel a stirring in my soul
To run, to climb the highest peak
To feel the grass beneath bare feet!
To stretch my arms, to drink the air
To feel the wind blow through my hair.


No sleep for me, no peaceful night
Till feelings fade with soft daylight
Why is it that I feel this way?
Do I descend from men of night, not day?
A highway man who rode the hills and lanes?
Who's spirit still lives on within my veins?
Do I relive his longing to unroll?
Or is it just the Gipsy in my soul?

Margaret Davis
1937 -2006

I will listen to the wind Mum and will keep watching for shooting stars.
x

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Sea Creatures And November Skies


I am a magnet. Drawn to tales that in the olden days were told around drift wood fires on starry nights. Passed down through time, travellers tales of strange beasts, mythical creatures, the loch ness monster, bigfoot. Legends of sailors encountering mermaids, selkies and sea monsters.
What it is that attracts me, I cannot say for sure?The unknown? Maybe just the romance of a tale embroidered into something that is missing in our world today. The picture maker in me, or the magic of a 'something more' which I feel exists?
Human beings like to be in control and think they have all the answers, but very often they are wrong. Giant creatures big enough to eat a sailing ship were scoffed at as exaggerations and the tallest of stories. Until the other day that is, when my ears homed in on a story on the news. ...

The fossil of a Giant sea monster found on the Dorset coast at Charmouth, with a steel strong jaw large enough to bite a car in half or eat a T rex for breakfast. You can read more about it here and here..... Amazing!
Maybe long ago sailors caught a glimpse of something similar left, forgotton about, in the depths of the briny sea. Maybe there are still others?.......


I've been creating my own sea creature related hangers......

Magical narwhals.....


And a few other bits and bobs.....

All to be listed in the Etsy shop very shortly.

November here has been what I imagine November to be. Misty, damp grey days smelling of sweet leaves and woodsmoke. Quiet but the sound of the noisy rooks that inhabit the big trees nearby. Darkness comes early and the smell and smokiness of fireworks mix with the recipe of November.
Guy fawkes night, we went to a local bonfire display.....


And gazed up into the skies....


our attention focused for 20 minutes, on just glittery explosions...

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Do Butterflies Like Pomegranates?

October has said its goodbyes for another year in a beautiful blustery flurry of wood scented leaves.
Tommorow the children are back to school and the house will be so quiet again.
This half term sped by much too quickly. We didn't get out as much as we had hoped we would. There have been sniffs, snuffles and everyone apart from me has a cough that resembles a barking seal. We have also been waiting in for the arrival of this...

All set up thankfully now and much cosier.
Sorting out the wood pile I disturbed this sleepy peacock, ready for winter.

I safely relocated it up onto one of the beams in the shed and it settled back down .
This beauty (painted lady) was still flying around the garden, making the most of the warm Autumn sun.

I wonder if butterflies like pomegranates?.....

I do...

Some things we have enjoyed this past week....
Popcorn, girly shopping, pumpkin soup, films, skies, sherbert lemons, candles, cinema, treacle tart, outside in the moonlight, fires, baking cake, pumpkin carving, reading and noticing more ladybirds.


Jasper has been noticing things too. For instance, how the flying creatures visit this exact spot regularly, and how much better the water tastes here....

You've probably gathered by now that minimal creative making was going on here last week. But, I did get to do a little more of a painting that I've had on the go since spring. Its a strange feeling as I'm finding it really hard to get stuck into this one. This is very unusual for me, as normally I have to stick with something and finish it as quickly as possible.
This picture has loads more to be done yet, so I'll just keep plodding and who knows I might finish it by next spring? ;)

I hope you all had a good All Hallows Eve yesterday, however way you chose to celebrate :)
See you soon x