Monday 22 November 2010

Its been a long time.......

Well its been six months since my last post and what a change.

The operation to remove my gall bladder was a most wonderful success and though it took longer than I expected to feel better,what a difference. It would seem that it had been giving me grief for a lot longer than the first six months of this year as now we are parted I feel and look so much better than for the past two to three years. My gallstone, a rather perfect 9mm marble now lives in a jar in my bedside table (its standard to get given the contents I gather - mine was prettier than some).

This has proved a great boost to the ego and although it has been a bit of a nuisance having to buy new clothes to fit me its really nice to be proud of the woman who looks back at me in the mirror. Another change which wasn't planned to be permanent was my hair colour. For the past few years I have been palest ash blonde but just every now and then its good to ring the changes. I had some "purple passion" permanent colour in the bathroom from a previous "moment of madness", I tried it, I liked it, so I am still purple headed. It makes me smile the reaction it gets or doesn't as people try to pretend they haven't seen what they have. General consensus is that is suits me but more importantly I am happy with it and that is all that matters so I'm the "mad bird with the purple hair". I gather in the cities it is quite in vogue to have pink or purple hair this season but I hasten to point out I never do things cos I've seen them in a magazine, I do them just because I can and I feel like it :)

Once my recovery was well under way, I was lucky enough to be treated to my new DSLR camera in June when my parents came to visit. That led to a whole summer of taking photographs with renewed passion, early mornings to catch the sunrise, an almost indecent obsession with cereal crops, clover on the front lawn, anything I could take photographs of I did, just so I could begin to learn how the camera worked and what I could potentially do with it.

Some of the results I have been very pleased with.I am my own toughest critic and although I take lots of photos, I work on the principle of taking the right photo in the first place, rather than relying on editing software to provide the result. Next hurdle is to get some printed professionally and see if they are saleable.... almost there but still needing a bit of push.

Similar with the artwork really, lots of ideas but little enough time to actually put anything down in hard form. I do know I definitely have a "thing" for pattern, be it the pattern of ploughing lines in a field or a weir. Lots of photographs are taken for use in my art in the future and I will get there.

I am still doing book keeping & haulage to pay the bills but a couple of book keeping jobs have or are about to disappear and 'Im quite relaxed about this as it will allow more time for the art/photography, a gentle transition of power is probably not a bad thing.

As for travel and music, I was finally well enough to go to see Mumford & Sons in October at Rock City, Nottingham - even got inspired to some artwork that night by their music. In a couple of weeks I'm going to see Scissor Sisters again in Birmingham, that's my treat to me. I also love watching the live streams on a Sunday evening at www.cafenoodle.ning.com .I've this desire to own a mandolin..... at least if I get one they look pretty standing in a corner. In October I headed up to Lancaster and got to meet up with some of the lovely people I have got to know via Twitter, it was a great weekend and I plan to head up again next spring. In the meantime, I'm taking advantage of offers for cheap hotel rooms to go for overnight weekend breaks in random places.
Places I have never visited and where I can get the best bargains, gets me out of the village which can get a bit claustrophobic - its good to remember there is a whole wide world out there. I just wish I had more time to explore it- definitely something to work towards.

I'm still as poor as a church mouse financially but feel so lucky to be feeling so much better I am really high on life at the moment, long may it continue, I like feeling well. When there are so many people who have dreadful illness, often life threatening, it makes you realise how short our time may be and not to waste a minute of it. That doesn't mean travelling the world or trying to save the world, it just means trying to wring every last ounce out of every day.

That's enough for now and in lots of ways its hardly touched the surface, better not to leave 6 months in between posts methinks....

Sunday 2 May 2010

Maybe Maybe not

Well the merry month of May is upon us, the garden looks gorgeous as it always does this time of year. Id post some photos if I could work out how to...!

It also brings my operation closer - just 4 more days now before my gallbladder and I are separated and I can get back to feeling well and living again.
Its all very nice having things done for you but Im an independent sort and quite capable of doing my own thing - well normally.

This illness has also put on hold my plans to see about doing things that I want to to earn money as opposed to doing things that I can to earn money. A juggling act as there is only me so I have to ensure there is enough income to keep the rent and bills paid.

A plus from this episode has been signing up to twitter which has led to me chatting with a whole new and diverse group of peeps from all over. My music education has improved, Ive got to learn all sorts about other folk and shared a laugh or two along the way and long may it continue.
Another plus is the 2 stone in weight I have lost- tho its not a method I would recommend

My confidence in my paintings has also grown as by letting peeps see some of my work it is judged for its own sake and seems to meet favourable comment.
I need to get sorted with the various things that I make and do and see about dipping a toe into selling some.
I should get new camera sorted soon and once Im mobile again then I can get to taking some really good landscapes again but in a format that will make good quality enlargements and prints.
I have these gifts so I think its time I made use of them and put sums on the back burner again.

Life should be about the journey and the experiences along the way not just paying the bills and existing. Admittedly my health has been an issue for the past few years but once gall bladder is sorted, the rest of me feels fine. I just need to get a balance so I have a quality of life.
Id also like to travel more - in this country I mean - its such a wonderful place and tho Ive seen a fair bit there is still loads more to see and who knows perhaps even somewhere more wonderful to live than where I am now.

So heres to the future :)

Sunday 4 April 2010

Easter Eggs and Bunnies

Easter Sunday, not an egg or bunny in the house! The weather is true to April - cold breeze, sunshine one minute and a downpour the next. None of which I have been out to experience as I have felt really unwell this weekend. Despite this I have managed 2 watercolours and I hope to have a try at an acrylic piece tomorrow which will mean I am off on one of my surreal journeys and I have some ideas already.
Will be interested to see what a nights sleep adds to these thoughts.

There was the most lovely photo of Broadstairs harbour in the paper today, which I have kept to one side, not to paint but just for the memories of my mid teens to early twenties. I know I moved inland partly to get away from the sea but theres no denying its in my soul and I do have days when I miss the fishing boats and lifeboats, the nearby reservoirs just arent the same!

The garden is looking really pretty, the grass has greened up, the daffs are out as is the forsythia hedge and the flowering currant isnt too far behind. It would look even better if I could get out there to do some weeding and tidying but that just inst feasible at the moment so I will have to continue to be patient a bit longer.

Monday 29 March 2010

Spring has sprung back again

Health is definitely not improving by the day, early May cannot come quick enough. I am virtually housebound and not taking it well :-( .
As for the weather - tis a wet and miserable day today but these are at least interspersed with sunshine now and I havent lit the fire for at least a fortnight! The horse chestnut trees are not far off bursting into leaf, the first of the forsythia is out and the first daffs in my garden finally properly opened yesterday! I love the start of spring when the hedgerows and trees green up again and the word looks clean and renewed.


I have started to paint in watercolour again, something which gives me pleasure and constantly surprises me. I still cant believe that I can actually paint, just wish I had seriously realised years ago. Never mind , am going to play catch up now :-)!
I love to paint with acrylics as well but those are very different sort of abstract pieces which are a voyage of discovery each time I pick up a brush and open a tube of paint

Wednesday 17 March 2010

Spring in the air

Ooops Ive been very lax at keeping this up to date. And interestingly I note that petrol was 33p cheaper when I wrote the last entry!.

Since Christmas I have been ill with angry gall bladder which will be removed in May. Life is at the present very restricted -a fat free diet, no alcohol. By the end of the day and some days sooner, I am in a fair amount of pain so its basically rest, work and home to rest again. Social life and trips out are just not feasible. On the good side, Ive lost over a stone in weight, so each cloud does have a silver lining!!

Spring is finally on its way after a good dose of winter. Snowdrops and aconites in the garden are flowering their socks off. The daffs and tulips are growing now by the day and the buds swelling on the hedges and best of all the days are longer once more.

I will try not to leave it so long before the next posting......