All good stuff

Mediterranean diet? Nope, Scunthorpe diet. Salad leaves, cucumber, tomato, avocado, rice, and mushrooms. Luverly lunch today. Home food is a million times better than eating out, and a lot cheaper.  

Helen came this morning for a coffee and chat, now I'm going outside.  ilona

Very clever art.

There's a smashing exhibition on at 20 21 Arts Centre in Scunthorpe at the moment. Maia Weerdmeester is a previous winner of the Open exhibition, and was invited back for her own solo exhibition. Her art is stunning, who would think that thousands of fine straight lines of many colours could be turned into something quite amazing.  

From a distance it looks like threads.

Close up it is tempting to touch, just to make sure that what you are seeing are painted lines.

These are practice pieces, wrapped threads.

Small practice pieces.

Sketchbook practice.

The day by day plan of making the big piece.

 A journal of how the art is made, from start to finish.

I wouldn't have the patience for this, it's all very clever. Not a smudge or a blob anywhere, just perfect straight lines. Now I must get on with my own art.  ilona

Something to hang on the wall

I fancied doing some weaving. I drilled some holes one inch apart through a piece of driftwood then threaded some twine through them. The idea was to leave the ends loose and finish off the bottom with wooden beads. But then I wondered how I was going to weave if all the warps were loose. 

I came up with this idea. Luckily the piece of wood was was just the right length to wedge it between the legs of an upturned small table. 

At the other end I wrapped the twine around the bar, and fastened them tight with plastic clips. Perfect, now I can weave.

I've just finished it today. I used up some scraps of fabric left over from other projects. I decided that the beads at the bottom was not going to work, so I tied another piece of driftwood to it.

The extra large buttons I got from Aldi. They were selling big bags of mixed sizes for around 70p. Each bag had two main colours. Blue and green, orange and yellow, and red and pink.

Hanging on the wall, the sides have pulled in a bit, but not too bad.

I didn't drill holes in the bottom piece of wood, just tied the twine round it and let the ends dangle.

I made it up as I went along. I have used plain grey fabric to cover up the untidy back.  It's 12 inches wide and 17 inches long. Looks quite nice.  ilona

Free flowers

It's very windy here again today, luckily hardly any rain though. Outside is warmer than inside.

Someone in the village has given me a load of stuff she doesn't want, after a clear out of her loft and garage. The gazebo roof has gone to my friend, hers is falling apart so she is glad of this free replacement. She also had some curtain linings which will fit her patio doors. Soft toys, a quilted baby playmat and cot blanket, and a sewing box will be sold on the cat rescue stall. I had two pillow cases, curtain linings, and a bunch of artificial flowers.

This is my display which has been on the window sill for a lot of years and is now falling apart. Some of it I picked from around the fishing pond down the hill. 

These are the 'new to me', flowers, they are also a bit old but in better condition than those I already have, and they are more colourful.

Merge the two bunches together, picking out the better ones and binning the rest, put them in a different glass vase, and bingo, a new display.

My Saturday morning breakfast. Every so often I fancy a change from cereals, nuts and fruit, and porridge. Today was the crust from a seeded loaf, mushrooms, egg, and spaghetti hoops.

Its a bit too windy to do any gardening and the brown garden waste bin is full awaiting collection on Wednesday. Don't need any shopping, I did it yesterday. I'll go a walk at some point, and fill in the gaps with some sewing. Hair needs a cut but as I do it outside I'll have to wait till the wind drops. 

ilona

Little beasties

Another 'too nice to stay in', day yesterday. It was forecast to be hot, and so it was, with a slight breeze to keep me comfortable. I did a local circular walk of nine miles. Fantastic views over the river. 

Then I was attacked. I came to a gate and found the whole area swarming with ladybirds, millions of them. Quite a lot of black ones with red spots. In seconds I was brushing them off my clothing and picking them out of my hair. I took a few photo's and then got the hell out of there.

Out in the open fields and eventually I had brushed them all off. I kept seeing them flying about throughout the day, but not as many as those at the gate.

A lot of chattering coming from this large gathering.

A nice afternoon out. Weather not so good today, a day in the garden I think.  ilona

Get out while you can.

You've got to make the most of it while you can, the sunshine I mean. Yesterday was lovely, so a walk to the park was on the cards. The crunchy leaves under the boots, the sun lighting up the many shades of green, the shadows across the grass, and the ducks playing in the pond, all is beautiful. 

The wicker man reading a book inside the walled garden.

Huge pumpkins ready for carving. I do think this tradition is a massive waste of food.

The hall set in acres of beautiful parkland. The summer season has ended, now it is free to walk around the grounds.

The sun is out today so it looks like another walk. Too nice to stay indoors.  ilona

Seasonal Beautification

I am enjoying the autumn colours at the moment. Everywhere I go there are beautiful shades of yellow, gold, brown, red, and every shade in between. Isn't mother nature wonderful. 

This cottage is adorned like this every year. Never get tired of seeing it.

 The front gate of someone's house.

Inside the front gate. It's a good job they never use it, they have a back gate.

In a few weeks it will all be gone and the leaves will be cleared up or left to blow away. Winter is on it's way.  ilona