☼ hello world

which little flag are you?

come on don't be shy

pop in and say 'hi'

happy weekend to you all

♡ things that gladden my heart

  dewdrops on a spiders web this foggy morning 

  a picked bunch of my favourite grasses

  leafy shades for idle hands to crochet into a blanket

  a pile of stringy worms trimmed from a new curtain

☄ s-h-o-p-p-i-n-g

After being asked and persuaded and cajoled and quizzed ....
I've found a new place to put all the years of shopping lists that I have found and kept and didn't quite know what to do with. Nothing as beautiful and textually grand as Simon's fantastic blog right here.
Mine is called shopping lives giving blogworld a little glimpse into other peoples lists on a discarded piece of paper or card or an envelope or a section of teabag box or an old postcard that's torn or cut ....

Φ music and lights Φ

Libbie and I went to La Belle et Le Beat at the Railway Hotel.

A family day of music, film, art ~ a gathering.

It was great to take my teenage daughter to see local bands in the pub I have enjoyed frequenting since I can't remember when!

Well done Wendy & Michelle for putting on an eclectic day.

*shame the kitchen ran out of roast dinners ~ we would've stayed until the end but I had to feed my hungry chicklet elsewhere*

After tea, we drove to Hockley Woods to see a light installation by the artist Clare Lynn.

The Enchanted Circuit transformed the woodland into a magical fairyland.

Lights in jars like captured fireflies, lined the paths to guide our way.  

Little children giggled and played with their torches as they wOwed and wOndered.

L.e.d lights strung onto branches that swayed in the darkness and made beautiful shapes on the muddy leafy ground.  

The wood I knew was different that night.

A new experience shared.

✂ unwrap

No excuses today ~ a miserable and wet Saturday to top off a pretty yukky week for me.

Leek and potato soup bubbling on the hob ~ as I set to task ....

.... finally emptying two of the boxes that have been languishing in my 'conservatory' for the last four years.

How exciting to unwrap things I'd forgotten I had, to dust off my cookery books and put them on the shelves.

The house is becoming ours again.

There's a lot more to do ~ but it's a start.

Happy weekend blog friends.

˚the creative mind˚

Ever fascinated by the human body and it's functions I listened to a radio programme about the neocortex.
This part of the brain is at the seat of our awareness.  
It's our thinking, reasoning brain that helps us to remember and learn from everything we experience.
Modifying, repeating, analysing, verbalising ~ telling us when it's too hot or too cold.


Then there's the basal ganglia ~ this part is responsible for integrating feelings and thoughts with physical actions. It allows us to control our anxiety, impulses and feelings of pleasure. 
When your mind goes blank or you're lost for words ~ this could be a misfiring of the basal ganglia.


We form memories and learn from new experiences thanks to the hippocampus.  
Apart from short term and long term memory, the hippocampus allows us to make the unknowns ~ known.  
We can associate information with past experiences to arrive at greater understanding.


Memory ~ the foundation for poems, songs and art.  
Triggers and signposts.
The hippocampus stores it all ~ boxes and boxes piled high and teetering.
Ready to be grabbed and used in a heartbeat.
Sometimes there is a need to push memories to the back.
When you're trying to get through a door, arms full of luggage ~ but no matter how much you try ....
there's simply not enough room.  
You have to leave your Gucci behind in order to go out ~ into a brave new world.

⎛ saturday soup ⎞

Autumn is here and it's season change.

Chopping chunky root vegetables and choosing herbs.

Marjoram, bay leaf ~ a pinch of thyme and a sprinkle of sage.

A scant drizzle of mushroom ketchup for depth.

Heart gladdening cauldron of soup, bubbling on my hob.

All it needs is salt & pepper, a swirl of cream and doorstep thick bread.

Soup, souper tasty soup!

♡ my love's a pair of red red chairs ♡

I waited all day for the doorbell to ring.

The smiling face of Dan the courier.

Then it arrived, at teatime ~ carefully wrapped in bubblewrap and fruit boxes.

"Open immediately"

We rip open the tape and notice the label.

A tantalising glimpse of red peeping through the bubblewrap.

It pops as we reveal ....

.... two new additions for our newly renovated room bought from

Joe & Ben at recycled*design

Thank you boys for getting them safely to their new home.

We ♥♥

ˆˇ petit dejeuner ˇˆ

there are good perks when your business partner trips over to Paris to deliver equipment

thanks Mr D ^_^

* click click dorothy *

Two blogs? I just had to share ....

Last week I received an invite to add some images to a group called "An Idea of Home".

So I added three that were already on my mac.

Imagine my surprise today, when I was told they were online at the Photographers Gallery.

No ~ THE Photographers Gallery!

Just a bit of interactive fun and another screenshot for my portfolio.

*a step closer to my own exhibition ~ she dreams*

¤ green grow the rushes ¤

Yesterday I opened my door to find a little box of tomatoes and a flower, left on my step by Ab.

I love surprises.

She reminds me of a little bird that gladdens the heart, sings a sweet little tune, then flies off to another garden.

Then, while thinking this very thought, I made up a whole daydream about people I know.

Friendship garden.

trees = best friends ~ you trust them with your hopes and fears

shrubs = close friends ~ tell you when you're an arse and when you're good

hardy perennials = old friends ~ share experiences of growing up

annuals = good friends ~ those you can rely on to party

bulbs = distant friends ~ keep in touch but you don't see each other very often

bird = Ab

butterflies = creative friends ~ they flutter by and have a connection

bees = friends of friends ~ buzzing by to say hi

branches that hang over from next doors garden = internet friends ~ people you haven't actually met, but have a shared interest

Happy Friday my friends of all shapes, size and colour.

a later musing = those plants that appear in your garden for no reason, blown by the wind or seeded by birds that you decide to keep

~ be prepared ~

The brain has an unbelievable capacity for information.

Putting it into compartments, ready to be brought to mind at any time.

Sometimes my head is full of ideas and lists *and I do love a list* of things to do, to explore or take further.

Tasks move to the forefront or are pushed to the back of my mind.

Often I am sparked into thinking by a visual or aural marker.

Like a little flag that says "see to this please".

All week I have been thinking about mortality after hearing radio programmes about organ donation.

I have already signed up to have mine donated when I die ~ but I was surprised to hear that my family could still prevent that from happening. I have to tell them my wishes and hope that they keep to them.

I lost a dear friend this year.

She knew she was dying and had planned her funeral.

'The party I'm not invited to' she said.

Luckily I haven't been to many, but I had to smile at her choice of music.

It was her to the last.

Organ donation wouldn't have saved her sadly but there are lots of people it can.

After all ~ I won't be needing them after I've drawn my last breath!

Let it be known that when I go ~

any parts of me that can be used by others should be

I want to be put into a recycled cardboard box that I want people to graffiti, write, sticker and draw on.

Play Mahlers 5th symphony Adagietto at my funeral.

Dress me in something green.

Then burn me up and scatter my ashes on the beach of the Thames.

"˚sharing ideas˚"

Providing inspiration.

A debate that has been opened on a beautiful blog I love to visit and be inspired by here

*thank you Lou*

It's really got me thinking!

I love the sharing and creativity and community and vibe that happens daily in blogland and the internet.

Ideas and projects that move my thinking & get the juices flowing.

I could spend hours and hours reading amazing blogs and seeing fabulous works by people around the world.

One click leads to another link and the chain of creativity grows.

It's great to recognise a common thread or seeing something from a different perspective.

But when you put your thoughts out there for the universe to see, are you setting them free for someone else to adopt?

We are all influenced by how we feel, what we see/eat/smell/touch, our friends/family, where we live/our environment, tv/newspapers/books/music ..... the list is endless.

But what about things that we haven't yet seen?

Just because we haven't found them, does it mean they are not there?

You could create something that you believe to be unique, only to find later that someone has the same concept. Dammit! What then?

All the different combinations, permutations and blends of 'things' never ceases to amaze me and constantly surprises me.

*'things' is the only word I can think of right now to apply to everything really ~ music, art, literature, nature, science .....*

Andy Warhol famously borrowed the image of Campbells soup-cans to make a point about deadening consumerism.

I suppose art feeds off itself so it's how you personalise, customise and make it your own.

And where possible pay homage to your inspirations.

✺ saturday in the city ✺

Not often you see a big yellow taxi off Carnaby Street but this beast was part of 'wish you were here' ~ a New York/London shop swap.

Hail this cab and it will take you *free of charge* straight to Newburgh Street for coffee, bagels and pop-up fashion shops, New York style.

There was a good new vibe in the air.

It felt like it had recaptured some of the old swinging London ~ not afraid to step way from the norm and show it's rebellious side. Love it.

We decided we had better things to do than join the zillion people queue outside Central Perk!

Totally unrelated but spookily linked to the USA, we had our sights on lazarides gallery to see the beautiful creations of tattoo artist scott campbell
These delicate pieces are made of a stack of 100 $1 dollar bills.

Each dollar is lazer cut individually then the layers are reconstructed into amazingly intricate collages.

Oh how I love London.

I ❤ autumn

It was one of those fine October days

free from summer’s heat and haze

but not yet gripped by autumn chill.

It was one of those fine October days

when the sky’s so clear

you can see the moon

through the atmosphere

at midday.

It was one of those fine October days

when the trees sport yellow and red

instead of everyday summer green.

It was one of those fine October days

when one draws a deep breath

and is grateful

to be resident on Earth.

Richard Greene

≈ my family and other animals ≈